Silver Night
by A Really Big Idiot
Summary: Summary: Kaname brutally betrayed Zero to a fate worse than death. 100 years later Zero has reappeared in a guise he had never expected – the guise of the dark pleasure servant Silver Night. Major Pairings: KxZ:Yaoi; ZxY:Het; KxZxY:Love Triangle; KxY:? Warning: This is an extremely dark, complex, mature, and emotional intense story! Please Beware - Reader Discretion is Advised.
1. Prelude

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

_Summary_: Kaname brutally betrayed Zero to a fate worse than death. 100 years later Zero has reappeared in a guise he had never expected – the guise of the dark pleasure servant Silver Night. Pairings: KxZ, KxY, ZxY

* * *

**Prelude**

Kaname Kuran knew that fate and consequence were cruel twin sisters. With the blood of a noble traitor still dripping from his hands, the King stared in stark disbelief at the person in front of him. He never expected to see him again.

The boy's existence should have been erased one hundred years ago.

Kaname's soul raged. His black conscience awoken and he came to the bitter realization that one could never escape from their past sins. Especially the first sin that paved the road to the creation of the merciless tyrant he was today. The evidence of his first true cruelty, after all, was shockingly before him.

Kaname wondered if he was going mad. He wouldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. He shouldn't believe it. That person should not be _alive_! Guilty was reborn in his heart, and as he silently stared at the very victim of his first spiteful plot and his first betrayal. That creature laid before him in front of a large glass window.

Zero Kiryu.

Kaname Kuran wished the figure to be a ghost.

* * *

Silver Night stared at his new master and he wondered if this fateful change would be beneficial to his ultimate goal. After all, he never expected that his new master would be a King of Vampires and stand before him.

Silver had a brief moment of pity for his last master. He had been kinder than most of his previous ones. However, that man was clearly dead, thus the enslavement blood bonds were now passed to that man who had killed him. Silver was a bit surprised that his newest master was none other than the currently speechless Vampire King.

His dangerous game had become very twisted.

He decided to put on his servant mask. Ever so slowly, he stood up from his position and moved toward his new jailor. Without missing a beat, he went to his knees and bowed towards him. In a voice that made silk envious, he said, "I greet you, new master. What does your heart greatly desire?"

* * *

The Vampire King watched the specter in the moonlight window. Long high-silver hair flowed down his back and shoulders stretching towards his snow-white feet. Dark grayish-purple eyes were hidden underneath sleepy wispy eyelashes. The lean and tone figure was adorned in black silk. His shirt was open revealing a pleasing chest. His silk pants barely seemed to grip his hips and had the naughty suggestion that the lightest of tugs would reveal a hidden jewel.

The King stared at his face. Still so similar to the one he remembered in his guilt induced nightmares and tired memories. Zero's face had always been a wonder to behold. His symmetrical features had always arrested the attention of those who dared to look upon him. In looks, he was a rare creature. It was his personality that had kept most far.

Suddenly, Zero was awakened from his sleepiness. He looked at Kaname for a tiny moment and like a quiet river over smooth stones, he stood up and walked toward him. Kuran expected him to punch him. Kuran expected him to spit at him. Kuran expected him to curse him.

Therefore, he didn't expect to hear those words. "I greet you, new master. What does your heart greatly desire?"

Kaname just stared. Of all the things Zero could have spoken, those eleven words were not what he expected. Kaname expected the boy to curse him. He even expected him to attack. The heavens knew that boy should have tried to murder him. But for that boy to bow? He wanted to laugh. Fate was darkly cruel! A sudden flash of memory over took him.

_Zero reached toward him with a bloody hand. "Help me, Kaname."_

_He took a disgusted step back. "And allow you to have my happiness? Never." He cruelly said._

If the boy had survived for one hundred years after the betrayal, surely he would have plotted some form of revenge. Clearly, that was logical. But no, he was kneeing before Kaname. Zero Kiryu was kneeing before him. A hidden wish of his adolescent days were finally granted. Kaname wondered if he was experiencing a delusion.

However, in all the guises that Zero could have taken to come back. The guise of Silver Night would have never been a possibility to him. Never – not in a million years - would Kaname have thought such an impossible idea. Kuran heard of the creature. Among the nobles for a past century, the rumors spoke of a Doll that fulfilled every dream, wish, fantasy, and desire of his master.

A Doll was a polite term for a sexual vampire slave. A creature only the nobles and a few C class vampires could own. However, the Doll named Silver Night was in a category all his own.

A creature that embodied glorious androgynous beauty and handsomeness. A creature who had the ability to satisfy all natural and unnatural, noble and beastly lust. Kuran remembered stories of previous masters of Silver Night to lock themselves within their homes for months at a time to enjoy the untold pleasures that he provided.

Such legends had been spreading around his court for years, but Kaname had never paid much attention to them. He did find it amusing that the nobles which had had him would jealously guard him from their rivals. However, he never found amusing that those same nobles would be killed for him. Actually, they would be murdered to be more precise. Silver Night had never belonged to one master for more than two years.

And Silver Night was none other than Zero Kiryu.

Kaname Kuran knew the world had gone mad.

**To Be Continued**

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A/N: Thanks for reading my tale! I'm new to fan fiction! However, I'm going to be honest. I'm the type of new writer who likes feedback. The more the better! So, should I continue this or start something else?


	2. Chapter 1 Reflections

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

Summary: Kaname brutally betrayed Zero to a fate worse than death. 100 years later Zero has reappeared in a guise he had never expected – the guise of the dark pleasure servant Silver Night. Pairings: KxZ, KxY, ZxY

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Zero Kiryu stared at Yuki Kuran and wondered if he had heard her correctly. Maybe he should have cleared the wax out of his ears because she clearly couldn't have said what he thought she said.

He was recovering nicely from their last battle against Rido Kuran. Zero hadn't thought he would have survived it and thought it was his fate to die there. After all, he had no purpose left. His father and mother were long since dead, and his brother was within him. He had nothing. No future, no dreams, and no hopes. However, he did have one wish.

He wanted Yuki to be happy forever.

Zero remembered what had happened.

_He protected her from Rido's final revengeful attack. Shielding her with his own body, the pain was excruciating. Blood had poured out of him at a rate that even he knew couldn't be replenished in time. As he laid on the ground and chocked on his own blood, he held her cheek with a red stained hand._

_"If things had been different, I would have loved you forever." He had said as he laid dying. He tried to squeeze her cheek teasingly._

_Tears burst from Yuki's eyes. "No, Zero." She couldn't speak._

_"Please be happy, Yuki." Zero's whispers struggled. His eyes were so tired._

_She found her voice. "No, Zero. You will not die! Don't you dare close your eyes! Damn you, don't you dare close them!" She grabbed his head and pulled him towards her neck. "Drink!" She cried. "Drink you foolish idiot!"_

_Zero shut his mouth. He refused to open it. He knew his vampire nature would overwhelm him, and he would drain her dry in his bloodlust. He would not rob her of her life and happiness. She would live, and she would be wed to Kuran. She would have lots of children, and she would be happy. He would not steal that bright future away from her._

_"No, Yuki." He hissed between clenched teeth. He turned his head away from her._

_"Don't die, Zero. Don't die, please. Please don't die." She repeated over and over again._

_Zero closed his eyes. His heart was crying. If only things were different...he would have loved her forever. However, at least he knew she cared for him as well. Thus, he would leave her with happy words. He opened his eyes and looked at her face. "But always remember to smile: your smile is wondrous." He closed his eyes again and willed himself to die._

_Silence surrounded him. The cold wind howled and white snow started to fall. The trees seemed to be weeping. For a moment, Zero believed that death had granted him his final wish._

_Yuki kissed him._

_Shock open his mouth, but desire kept it open. Like a dehydrated lost soul in search of an oasis, he returned her kiss. He opened his mouth and devoured her lips. Gripping her face and pulling her towards him in an act of desperation. Sadness and happiness, regret and thankfulness, loneliness and love – this final kiss would be their final goodbye. Greedily, Zero devoured this kiss. Kuran may have her forever, but at least he had her for this one glorious moment._

Zero redden at the memory. Yuki was cunning when she wanted to be. She bit her tongue and forced her blood into him by their kiss. Somehow, by a miracle, he had managed to survive because of it. Still, he wondered if he was dead or at least dreaming. He had never expected to survive that battle, and now he wondered what would become of the rest of his life.

Yuki did not leave his side the majority of his recovery. She had hovered over him like a hen with her chick. Zero would tried to get her to leave so she could take care of herself, but she refused most of the time.

However, yesterday, she did leave him. Zero had been a bit sad at that. He loved her presence more than he loved breathing. But, she had returned to him today. However, she stood before him and spoke not a word.

Zero hadn't known what to say, so he simply offered her a small smile. Clearly, she had something important she wanted to say, but he didn't know what she wanted from him. Regardless, he would do his best to fulfill her wishes, after all, one will always do the impossible for the one they loved.

Maybe she would rationalize their kiss away. After all, she was engaged to her brother. A pureblood to love a Level D Vampire? Such a thing was highly detestable. As much as he didn't regret it, he didn't want her to be in pain because of it. He knew how much she loved that wretched Kuran. So he would do whatever she wanted, if she were to be happy. He waited for her words.

However, when she said them, Zero wondered if perhaps he had died and gone off to heaven. That could only be the explanation of those five odd words.

"Damn it! Marry me, Zero!" Yuki snapped. Her eyes blazing with a strange fire.

"What?" He asked with a shocked chock. Yuki's eyes soften, and she realized what she had said.

"That wasn't how I practiced it." She muttered to herself. She blushed and looked down. Zero knew he had to be dreaming. But finally, Yuki whipped her hair back and sighed.

She looked up and smiled at him and he couldn't turn away.

* * *

**Chapter One: Reflections **

* * *

**Present **

His palace was empty. Kaname slammed his wine on his oak study desk. In a drunken frenzy, he depressingly knew he shouldn't have expected anything else. It was always silent in his home now. Yuki had taken their two children with her when she moved out of their palace a year ago.

She had discovered what he had done to the man she first loved - and she **_hated_ **him.

Kaname wiped his face. He was a king. How could a king be reduced to such a pathetic set of circumstances? Kaname laid back on his chair and took another gulp of his highly matured wine.

One year ago, another rebellion had started and Yuki had been attacked. Critically wounded, Kaname shared his blood to keep her alive. However, due to the frantic state of affairs, he had forgotten to seal away his dark secret memories and when she had drunk his blood, she learned the one thing he had kept from her for over one hundred years.

Now she knew that **_he_ **was the reason Zero was lost to her forever. Her knowledge chilled him.

When Yuki had woken up from her healing sleep, the always familiar look of grateful kindness in her eyes was replaced with the blackest of hate. The moment she opened her brown eyes she tried to rip out his throat with her own clawed hand.

Their battle was terrible. Even now, parts of the palace were nowhere near repaired. It was only the screams and crying of their children who had stopped them. Her days as a weak and loving human was far gone and nothing more than a distance memory. The years had hardened her into the formidable Vampire Queen she was today.

When they had been together, they were an unstoppable force. He had become the powerful Vampire King of the Far Eastern Midnight World, and she stood by his side as his equal. He ruled his court with an iron fist, and he commanded the respect of the other nine vampire kings.

But now, his court was divided. Yuki 's departure split their court into two opposing factions - the King's Men and the Queen's Men. Kaname did not like this change of events. Internal and external enemies were rejoicing. The Far Eastern Vampire Court was in a state of cold civil war. He couldn't keep the news of these events a secret for very long and his deadliest of enemies, the European Vampire King, would soon try to take advantage of such events.

Kuran nursed his wine with dark thoughts. He'd discovered who tried to kill his wife and launch these horrible events. With mad vengeance, he slaughtered that traitor's entire household from his servants to his family to even his pet creatures. When Kamane had sensed another living creature in that house, he advanced towards it. Whatever that person was, whether a partner in crime or an innocent bystander, Kaname didn't care. Everything connected to that foul traitor would be destroyed that very night.

But fate was cruel. The facts were inescapable.

That last creature was the true start of everything. The catalyst of all his power.

That catalyst creature had been Zero Kiryu and he was still alive.

And Zero Kiryu was Silver Night.

But Silver Night was a Doll.

Thus Zero Kiryu was his newest slave.

Kaname wanted to laugh. He wanted so desperately to laugh. Of all things that fate could have thrown at him, this was the least expected. The sheer surprised had robbed him of his blood drinking. He could only stare.

_"I greet you, my new master. What does your heart desire?"_

Kaname's mind had whirled. He had fallen to his knees and grabbed that boy's face. Peering in his eyes, Kaname could see not a hint of recognition in those mirror lavender orbs. Zero looked at him as if he had never seen him much less knew of him before.

"What does your heart desire, master?" His voice repeated with purr. Kaname whipped his hand away like lightning had struck him. He never answered the question.

In a dreamlike daze, his hand dragged Zero back to his lonely palace and ordered his loyal Butler, Rio, to see after him. Kaname locked himself in his study for two nights trying to understand and process this odd turn of events.

He still hadn't come to the solution of what to do.

**To Be Continued **

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_**A/N: Wow. It took me one day to write this. XD I've never written faster than this, so you can thank the lovable reviewers (especially the reviewers who are fellow authors) who made it possible! Whoa! ;) Leave a review to tell me what you think! **_


	3. Chapter 2 Plans

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

_Summary_: Kaname brutally betrayed Zero to a fate worse than death. 100 years later Zero has reappeared in a guise he had never expected – the guise of the dark pleasure servant Silver Night. Pairings: KxZ, KxY, ZxY

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Yuki stood before him and utter the sentence he never expected to hear from her lips.

"I love Zero, Kaname."

Kaname's heart broke that moment.

"Excuse me?" The breathe was knocked right out of him. He suddenly felt dizzy.

Yuki started to cry. "I'm so sorry, Kaname! You've always been there for me. You've always protected me. But my heart belongs to Zero."

His broken heart shattered even further. He stared at her. Some dark part of him knew she was bound to say it, but he never thought she actually _would_. Still in disbelief at his sudden lost, a terrible darkness was born inside him at that very moment.

"I'm so sorry, Kaname." Yuki said quietly. Her head down but he could still smell her tears.

Kaname couldn't look at her. He turned away. "Kaname..." She whispered.

A strange calmness overtook Kaname at that moment. He turned his head to the side. "I understand. You can go be with him, Yuki." He didn't even know how the words came out of his mouth.

Yuki looked up. "Thank you so much, brother!" He could feel her grateful joy, and the darkness inside him grew faster.

"Go to him, Yuki." Kaname whispered. She was gone before he even realized it.

A cold silent descended upon him. He finished what he truly wanted to say. "Go to him, Yuki. Go to him _for now_. " He said quietly to himself. A goal cemented itself forever in his mind.

"Because he won't be with you for very long." He whispered to the window.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Plans**

* * *

**Present **

She nursed her hatred like a newborn babe to her breast. In her heart, she wanted her husband dead.

No, she just didn't want him dead - she wanted him to _suffer_. She wanted him to _regret_. She wanted him to fall to her feet and scream in agony and pain. She wanted him to bleed. She wanted his bones to be ripped apart and muscle torn to ribbons. She wanted him to feel every cruel torture ever imagined and created. She wanted him to experience everything she had experienced when she lost the one person she ever deeply loved.

Kaname had stolen her innocent happiness.

When she had confessed her love to Zero, she gave everything of herself. Their first time together was her happiest of memories, and they were each others' first.

Immediately, they planned their wedding. Kaname had been such a _supportive_ person. He paid for everything and arranged everything. He had sat beside them as they chose colors, went to cake testing, decided on the number of guests, and he was there when they went out to reserve a location for their wedding. He had watched them have mock lover arguments over where to spend their honeymoon and what they would name their many children.

He watched them and they never knew was truly lived behind his quiet brown eyes.

When Zero had gone missing, she had looked everywhere. She searched for him for weeks and months. She never rested well, she never ate what she should have, she never cared about anything but finding him again.

But when she found his broken silver-gold earrings and bloody clothes, Yuki's soul died at that moment. The realized shock over took her like a steamer roll. Her mind descended into madness, and her body was also in agreement with her wish for death. Her stomach had twisted as she vomited the little food she had consumed and a river of bright-red blood poured down her thighs. Her body had forced her into a very long coma to recover as she dreamed dead dreams.

When she had woken up, she knew her nightmare was a reality, and she clung to the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes for the first time after her coma.

Yet the memory of what that doctor had said had haunted her forever, and she clung even tighter to Kaname because it was all she could have done to prevent her from falling into madness again.

Why did she continue to exist when all she wanted was to die? Why did she continue to exist when she had lost what little she had of him forever?

"_Please be happy, Yuki." Zero's whispers struggled. _

_Please be happy, Yuki._ He asked. So she struggled on. Ten years after Zero's death, she married Kaname. Two years later, she had her children. Twins – a girl and a boy – born two minutes apart.

_Please be happy, Yuki_. She raised her children with all the love she had. She helped Kaname built his power in the Far Eastern Vampire Court. When Kaname had achieved his iron throne, she stood by him and struggled to secure his power.

_Please be happy, Yuki_. She helped grow their wealth, and she protected their court from external and internal enemies. She played with her children and told them stories to make them strong and wise. She organized parties and celebrations. She brought fine jewels, rare stones, numerous furs, and expensive clothing.

_Please be happy, Yuki._ Zero had told her when she first thought she would lose him forever. She refused his request. She poured everything inside herself to save him, and she _won_. However, now he was lost to her forever, and still she couldn't even fulfill his last request.

She never was happy.

* * *

The Butler Rio had been the only creature he had seen for the past week. After his new master had dragged him to his palace, Silver hadn't seen him again.

This made Silver annoyed, but there was some dark humor in this situation.

Apparently, it was true – one could sleep their way to the top. And what a top this was!

For his new master to be One of the Ten Vampire Kings, Silver didn't know whether his fortune had turned for the better or not. After all, a Vampire King was the strongest of the strong, and only another King could slay one. That would not be a benefit to Silver if his new master was the tyrant he had heard him to be.

However, it seemed that this turn of fate was his final challenge. It was as if every previous master, every past action, every plot, and every manipulation he had ever devised had prepared him for this last challenge.

Silver Night only had one goal - he wanted to become one with his true self.

Silver would only meet his true self when he was recovering from a near-death experience. The meeting would always be the same. He would rage at his true self. He would curse at him. Silver would shout his questions and maledictions. How long will you trap yourself within yourself, true one? How long must I endure jailor after jailor, pain after pain, blood after blood until I can truly feel? How long must I live and struggle before I can finally be complete? However, his true self would always reply with the same answer.

_"Until my punishment is complete."_ His true self would always say those same five letter words. As chain like thorns repeatedly cut into him and held him down.

On his true self's throat would be a silver collar engraved with the number zero. They looked exactly the same, except for two things. His true self had short hair and a slight tattoo on the right side of his face.

Always immediately after those words, Silver was brought back from the realm of his inner self and would have to deal with reality once again.

Silver picked up the comb and started to comb his long silver hair. It was always a major source of irritation for him, but it had its usage. His long hair was a part of the illusionary image he created of himself. When he was to bed a master, he knew that the feeling of his long silk hair that draped around his current jailor as he milked his current master with his thighs was a feeling that couldn't be described or imitated. Silver had made sure that every aspect of himself was different and apart from every Doll that ever existed. He knew that if he were to survive he had to create a desire for himself that no other creature in the world could duplicate. This was the secret to his survival for all these long cold years and what kept every master he ever had eating out of his palms until they met their final fate.

The average life span of a Doll was one and a half years. He been one for nearly one hundred. After his breaking, he had worked hard to transform himself into what he was today. He had survived when the odds were against him and his true self had abandoned him. He had created thousands of different sensations unique to himself. He had mastered every art of allure, and he had cultivated everything he was to be used as weapons for his various seductions.

He survived because he made himself into the very embodiment of a master seducer.

He could not be compared.

Still, Silver knew he was not happy. After all, he was the shadow self. He breathed, but he didn't exist. He could feel, but he never had emotions. He'd owned the hearts and minds of many of his previous masters, but they never own his because he didn't have one in the first place. Every word he spoke was a lie. Everything about him was an illusion.

Silver had to find the key that would unlock his true self from his chains of self-inflicted punishment. Only then would he be what he always wished to be – a person.

**To Be Continued **

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**A/N: Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave your thoughts in the reviews! I'm so excited when I see a new review in my inbox! XD  
**


	4. Chapter 3 Children

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago**

Yuki opened her eyes for the first time after three months in a coma. Kaname's face was the first thing she saw.

"Yuki!" His eyes brighten. "You're finally awake!" He crushed her in a tight embrace. "I was beginning to think you would never open your eyes again." Over her shoulder, she saw a doctor standing near the door. She looked upon them with a slightly amused expression.

When the doctor noticed that Yuki was looking at her. She nodded her head. "Indeed, miss. You have been asleep for a very long time. " The doctor smiled at her.

Yuki didn't feel a thing. Zero was gone forever. He would have never lost his precious weapon and those bloody clothes...

She had nothing to live for really and life seemed so _long..._and she was still very _tired_...

The doctor smiled kindly towards her. "Miss, I'm glad you are alright." The doctor's smile seemed to freeze for a moment. She seemed to struggle and then she mentally decided on something important. Taking a deep breath, she said, "However, I'm so deeply sorry that we couldn't save the baby."

Time died.

"Baby?" Yuki shook Kaname off. "What baby are you talking about?" Her eyes wide.

The doctor herself also looked shocked. "You didn't know you were pregnant?" She asked her.

Coldness inched inside her heart then and recreated it.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Children **

* * *

**Present **

Haruka hated his new home. He hated these new colors: purple, silver, and white. These colors were everywhere in the new mansion. Purple walls, pure white carpet and furniture, and silver ornaments were everywhere the eye could see. His twin sister, Juri, loved the design and Haruka rolled his eyes. As if he needed another reason to dislike his sister.

His mother clearly went mad. She had left his father a year ago and dragged them both with her. Haruka was never really close to his father but he admired and respected his power. However, it was really his mother who had raised and loved him.

Nevertheless, Haruka always knew that his mother had a special type of love for his twin sister that was only reserved for her and her alone.

Juri never seemed to notice it. The way their mother's eyes would glow brighter when her eyes landed on her. Or how Mother would hold Juri tighter when she hugged her. Mother would listen to Juri's words more when she spoke. Mother always gave her extra time and attention in numerous small ways.

Haruka disliked his sister very much because of it.

Oh, he knew his mother loved him as well, but the fact remained that the love didn't have the same depth at his sister had from her. Being the Prince of the Far Eastern Vampire Court was a lonely existence. Few, if any person, dared to come close to him and he trusted still fewer. His circle was so tiny that it was close to being non-existent.

Juri was always bright and happy. Many court officials remarked that she was similar to the Queen decades ago. She was joyous and kind. She was always laughing and helping. She brightened the room whenever she came in, and the people were in awe of her because of it.

He was the exact opposite. Haruka seemed to take more after his father in ways that weren't complimentary. He was everything his sister was not: dark and vengeful, strong, cunning, and merciless. The people feared him and knew that they were witnessing a benefiting heir of the future throne.

Still, Haruka pitied his father. When his mother had walked away from him, Haruka had turned his back and looked at him. He would never forget that wretched expression.

* * *

Silver Night wanted to break something. It was unusual for him to fly into such a childish fit. After all, he had far more discipline and patience than the average soul. Not a natural patience by any means, but it was something that had taken him many years and many painful lessons to learn.

Two weeks and his new master did not see him. Silver hadn't dared to take a step outside the room because of it. Dolls were killed for lesser offenses, and he didn't want his new master to think he was rebellious.

The Butler Rio was the only breathing creature he had interacted with. The old man was very short with a stocky built and a slight pot-belly. His hair was grayer than its previous brown and his blue eyes was framed with tired wrinkles.

When the man looked at Silver, Silver had the impression that the man pitied him.

Silver was slightly alarmed by that. After all, what type of person would pity a Doll? The rank was lower than a Level E. The reason being that at least a Level E vampire had their freedom and a thing that resembled free will.

Dolls had submission blood bonds weaved into their very bodies and even into their very souls. If a master told them to jump, they would jump. Even if they wanted to refuse the command, they wouldn't be able to, because that bond would force them to achieve the command. This left Dolls to the mercy of their masters.

In general, the statistics for Dolls were grim. Thirty-five percent of newly created Dolls would be murdered the first night or first sex with their respective masters. The corpses would be tossed in the trash without a second thought the next day.

Fifty percent of Dolls would last a year. Ten percent would last for two or three years. The last five percent would last for 7 years.

Silver lasted for nearly one hundred years. He was a mythic figure in Doll society.

Still, Silver wondered what his new master was like. There were many different types of masters. One could have the socially awkward master who really did not know how to engage with another equal vampire in vampire society. Then there was the sadist who enjoyed hearing a Doll scream and cry. There was the bored master who simply wanted new fun. There was also the desperate master who need the attention of anything and anyone and a Doll provided the best listening ear. Silver learned how to deal and manipulate each of those master types and still others. It was why the majority of his previous masters have jealously embraced him more than their own families and when Silver desired a change - they never saw his hidden knife.

The various Dolls he had met over the years always wanted to know his secrets. How could you survive so long? Why is it only you that have survived so long? Silver would never answer those questions and reveal his true nature. One doesn't give away the very key to their survival, and he had many keys.

His first survival key was the fact that he was not a complete person. He was a shadow person. A shadow created by his true self in order to protect his soul and to survive. His true self could never have dealt with the numerous sufferings and horrors Silver had been subjected to over his lifetime. Because his true self had locked away his emotions and memories, Silver had an advantage over his fellow Dolls because he didn't know was freedom, emotions, or completeness felt like. Nearly all the Dolls remembered their past lives, especially since most Dolls had once been human. Silver didn't know his past or origin. He didn't even know his true self's name. All he could recall are a few brief memories of his creation, but it wasn't the same thing. In the end, one cannot desire something one never had and most Dolls died not so much to violent abuse but because of their own despair.

In a twisted way Silver was working towards his own destruction. He was tired of being a shadow. He wanted to become one with his true self. He wanted this more than he wanted freedom. He wanted to know what completed beings called happiness and love, even if it destroyed him.

His second survival key was linked to cultivating his skills in acting. Despite his lack of experience with feeling true emotion, he knew how to fake and pretend well. He knew how to act. He knew how to move. The illusionary mask of positive emotions was something that had taken him a great deal of time to prefect. When a master would fall in love, lust, or obsession with him because of his various seductions, Silver knew how to pretend to love or desire them back.

The third key to his survival was his ability to seduce. Seduction was not merely sex or pleasure. True seduction was a mental war game. It was not a gift. It was a skill.

History has been littered with the stories of various seducers. From Cleopatra and Don Juan, to Casanova and Madam de Pompadour, he studied the lives and actions of these past figures. Silver studied and apply their techniques and created techniques unique to him alone.

Seduction has three components – a feeling of danger, the intense desire to claim, and the illusion of love. If a Doll were to survive, he or she would have to master those three components. However, the trick to this was that every individual in the world was different. What could work for one master would not necessarily work for another.

For example, if a master was artistically inclined, he or she would be weak to a Doll that had 'special' artistic abilities. If that same master was older, one way to wrap him around a Doll's finger would to be his 'student' in the arts and have such a master believe he was 'growing' his Doll's talents. If that same master was the same age or younger, being the muse and an attentive audience to his artistic pursuits would be the key to that person's heart. Of course, it would be better if the Doll already had these talents naturally or by intense practice but hid them well. Hidden talents were always a pleasing surprise and would create an intense desire to claim in a master that deeply desired such a thing.

In essence, to be what a master deeply desires, even if that master or mistress was unaware of what he or she internally wanted, was one of keys in the art of seduction.

Then there was the seduction component of the feeling of danger. He knew his reputation. Silver Night only belonged to one master for no more than twenty-four months. In fact, Silver knew that added to his mystery, and it intensify a vampire's desire to claim him as a difficult challenge to boost his or her own ego. A master's pride and conceit were wondrous tools in this regard. Silver knew a master would have heard of him before and even if that master won't acknowledged it – secretly, Silver knew, that that master wanted to the one who 'broke the rule' or was the _special_ exception.

Next, you have the last component of true seduction: the illusion of love. This component was the most difficult to implement for Silver. Love was something he didn't really understand, and he always disquieted that he would make a wrong move when pretending he was in love. He would continuous study how the souls around him acted when in love and while he was certain he was well versed in pretending - in the back of his mind he was always on edge in that stage of the game. Even when a previous master said they loved Silver deeply, like no other creature they have ever known, Silver didn't truly return the feeling.

Furthermore, he felt nothing when that master was gone from his life, generally because of another rival vampire's desire to claim him as their own. Silver was not above manipulating two or more other potential masters, if the current one was displeasing to him.

Nevertheless, his new master had to interact with him if Silver were to start this new game, but what a wondrous and awful new game this was! His newest master was a Vampire King!

Silver would need to scheme carefully, exactly, and precisely all his movements and actions because this master, above all others, would be his most difficult one to have in his thrall. Silver knew the desires of a simple Level C vampire. Silver was familiar with the longing and craving of nobles, but a Pureblood and King? He knew he was on unfamiliar ground.

Silver wanted to start this new game immediately.

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**AN: **Thanks for reading my fic! I'm really happy I'm getting so many responses. However, some of the questions you guys ask, I really can't answer without spoiling it or giving it away! XD I'm really happy that many you are pleased with my writing style! I was so nervous about it! Well, leave a review! After all, if it wasn't for you reviewers I wouldn't be hitting out chapters so quickly! :) **  
**


	5. Chapter 4 Cake, Part I

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Yuki's and Zero's wedding planner twitched her eyebrows. She had never had such frustrating clients before, _especially_ the groom. She would be _damned_ if he ruined her reputation as _the_ world-famous wedding planner to elite vampire society.

The memory of selecting the wedding colors was something of a nightmare for her. The bride liked odd colors – neon orange and lime lemon. The groom liked strange colors as well - greenish vomit blue and muddy brown. The planner had to wonder if they were planning a Halloween party rather than a beautiful wedding. It took great tact and patience to convince the couple, _particularly_ the groom, that those colors were unacceptable. She was able to get them to settle on a light gray, pale baby blue, and a deep emerald green.

However, now she had another terrible battle ahead of her – the wedding cake.

The wedding cake designer smiled at the young couple and the bride's brother. "What type of cake do you want, miss and sir?" He said with a winning smile.

Yuki shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not much of a cake person. I like donuts and cupcakes instead." She turned to her soon-to-be husband. "What type of wedding cake do you want, Zero? I'm not going to be fussy about it. Whatever you want; we'll go with it."

Zero frowned at her. Shouldn't a normal bride be more anxious and passionate on this particular wedding item? Well, there were women and then there was Yuki. Zero gave her a small smile as he rubbed his chin as he thought about it.

Kaname coughed slightly. "Shouldn't you pick a cake that all your guests will eat?" He suggested lightly.

Zero looked over to him causally, and then he slid his eyes back to the Baker. "Oatmeal. I want an oatmeal cake." He told him.

The room froze.

The Baker's eyes widen. Kaname tried to cover his smile with his hand. The wedding planner thought lightening had stuck her.

Yuki turned to Zero and smiled. "That's a good idea, Zero."

Only when _hell_ created a _ski resort_ would the wedding planner allow the travesty of an oatmeal wedding cake be attached to her name.

The wedding planner stared in disbelief. "Oatmeal? You want an oatmeal wedding cake?" He couldn't be serious!

"I don't want to eat anything unhealthy for my own wedding." Zero said deadpanned. "Oatmeal has a lot of fiber."

"Fiber? _Fiber_?" She chocked. "Who thinks of _fiber_ when selecting a wedding cake?"

"Fine, then." Zero pressed his lips together in annoyance. The planner's eyes twitched – he had the audacity to be annoyed at _her_? "Then I won't insist on an oatmeal wedding cake."

The wedding planner sighed in relief. Good. Now she could suggest that new vanilla and double chocolate seven tier wedding cake she had heard good reviews about. If she could have the cake decorated with the couple's wedding colors perhaps she could –

Zero opened his mouth again and said, "How about a rice wedding cake? "

The wedding planner's blood pressure sky-rocketed.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Cake, Part I**

* * *

**Present **

"Your majesty, the planner for the Annual Winter Ball is here to see you." Rio, his aged and gray-haired Butler, told him.

"Send her in." Kaname tiredly ordered. He rubbed his forehead as a headache declared vengeance on his skull. His court was getting too lively recently. It was most likely due to the Annual Winter Ball. His wife had started the event seventy years ago, and it had become a palace tradition.

While Kaname was in no mood to partake of the party, he was not about to postpone it. Not only would his various enemies perceive it as a sign of his weakening power, he finally formed a plan to get his wife back to his side and stop this foolish cold war he had with her.

Clearly, his wife was still deeply attached to the memory of Kiryu, and while it annoyed him immensely that the boy was still alive, in a strange way, it was a hidden blessing. By some strange miracle, Kiryu had survived and was now in his inescapable controlled hold. If Yuki wanted Kiryu, she could only do so through _him_.

Kaname was not above manipulating his own wife. Far gone was his childish softness when he previously dealt with her in their early years. She could now be a vicious enemy, and Kaname wouldn't be so foolish as to underestimate the crafty woman.

So he would use more subtle arts. After all, he did want her to _suffer_ a bit due to their colossal fight over something that happened _one hundred years ago._ Honestly, she would just have to get over it.

He was always there for her in the beginning, and he would be there for her in the end. Perhaps after Yuki had had enough of Kiryu, she would finally realize what a fool she had been and come back to him completely. Especially now, Kiryu was nothing more than a Doll – a creature even lower than a Level E vampire! After she healed whatever emotional wound she had of him, Kaname would finish the job those lying fools a century ago hadn't completed.

* * *

Like an ice fairy, Ruka Souen slid into her king's study. Once she loved him above all else. However, that wasn't the case any longer. The decades have proven to her his actual indifference towards her and revealed his true nature better than anything he could ever say.

Ruka had a deep pity for Yuki.

"Are the preparations ready for tomorrow, Ruka?" He asked her lightly.

"Yes, my king." Ruka said hollowly. She looked everywhere but at him. "I've prepared everything. It will start at 6:00 pm and end at midnight."

"Good." Kaname picked up his some of his papers and glanced at them. "When will Yuki and the children be arriving?"

Ruka wished the floor would open up and devour her. As the current neutral go-between for the King and Queen, Ruka knew this situation was spiraling out of control. Kaname didn't seem to realize that Yuki's hatred towards him was very _real_ and actually somewhat _frightening_. Kaname seemed to act as if nothing he had done was worthy of a _complaint_, much less a cause for savage revenge. It was that very same aloof selfishness that caused her so much pain many countless years ago.

Ruka sighed and braced herself. "Yuki told me she wouldn't be coming."

It happened in an instant. Ruka felt the predatory presence of an angry Pureblood. Her instincts stared to scream. _Run away. Run away. Run away. _She fought them as best as she could. That would be the wrong thing for her to do. A _very wrong_ thing. Yet Ruka could not look him in the eyes. Suddenly, the malicious power was gone.

"Tell her that I request her presence at the Annual Winter Ball." Kaname said lightly. "She will regret it if she does not come."

Ruka looked up and saw Kaname's eyes.

She nodded her head and sprinted to the door.

* * *

It was evening time, and Kaname stood before the door to Kiryu's room. His Butler saw it fit to place the boy in his never-used-before concubine chambers. This was somewhat amusing to Kaname because he didn't think a Doll deserved such an honor, and for that Doll to be _Kiryu_, of all people, made his irritation grow even more.

The practice of creating and keeping Dolls was an ancient vampire practice. However, after the humans advanced in their technology and vampire hunters became more common, the practice went out of favor. When the Hunter's Association was at its peak in power, the practice had been outright banned and forbidden due to the treaty.

However, when Kaname desired to attain more power in his early years, he made a few alliances with less-than-reputable members of vampire society in order to increase his cash flow, resources, and connections. His allies wanted the Doll practice reinstated. At the time, Kaname agreed to do it when he became the King. After all, he had more to gain from the agreement. In exchange for his renewal of the practice of vampires creating and keeping Dolls, Kaname was able to focus on more important things like gathering his power and overturning the council.

Despite this, the Doll industry was a multimillion dollar business now, and Kaname was slightly surprised that such a causal decision on his part had created such a profitable venture. Of course, such things did have their opponents. The Doll Liberation Association (DLA) was the only tiny voice that spoke against the industry. However, due to the fact that the Doll industry had more power, prestige, and political advantage, that organization wasn't very effective and was seen as another lunatic fringe organization in the vampire world.

Kaname didn't pay the industry much mind. After all, he had more important matters to deal with like ruling his kingdom and taking care of his family. However, even Kaname heard the rumors and scandalous stories of the Number One Doll: Silver Night.

Silver Night was the most desired Doll within the entire vampire realm. However, the majority of the people didn't even know what he truly looked liked, but _everyone_ knew when Silver Night's ownership was transferred to a new owner.

The stories Kaname had heard were beyond belief.

One son murdered his own father to claim him. Another story involved a wife poisoning her long-time husband in order to get Silver to embrace her. Still, another story involved a man who was bitterly fighting a vicious business takeover from a rival business leader and in order to get his way, he bargained with the man one night with Silver for a fair merger agreement. After one night with Silver, the rival leader didn't just agree to the new merger agreement, he wanted to trade his entire multimillion dollar company for _complete_ ownership of Silver Night. Naturally, that story didn't end well, and both companies were destroyed in the process.

And to think that all this time this Silver Night character was none other than _Zero Kiryu_.

Kaname had to admit to himself that not only was he incredulous of these past events; he was extremely curious as to what Kiryu had done to himself to become such a highly desired and infamous person. He remembered the boy – anti-social, revengeful, rebellious, proud, and rude. The Kiryu he knew didn't bow to him or any other enemy and wasn't afraid to disrespect Kaname any chance he got. Kaname could remember the boy's stubborn pride that brilliantly gleamed in his eyes. And that rude creature was the one-and-only Silver Night? The Doll of Desire? The King of Pleasure? The Master of Love? The Moonlight Siren?

Ha.

Kaname didn't really see what the big fuss was about, but in any case, Kiryu's surprising existence worked to his benefit. After all, Kiryu was the key to getting his wife, children, and life back on track after such an unexpected interruption of it by his numerous enemies.

Without bothering to announce himself, Kaname walked into Kiryu's room.

* * *

The first thing that Kaname heard was the sound of water running. The beautiful bedroom was empty, but everything was in its place. Kaname suddenly realized that Kiryu was in the connecting bathroom taking a bath.

Suddenly, something inside Kaname told him he should leave the room immediately. If not, he would regret it.

Kaname paid that something no attention.

Time became slow.

The shower was suddenly turned off and there was an unexpected moment of concentrated silence in the room. Kaname's sharp hearing picked up the sound of someone rising smoothly out of water. Soon, there was no other sound of movement, and Kaname realized that his heart was starting to beat faster.

The door to the bathroom door was abruptly open. Hot steam that smelled like rose, milk, pine leaves, and lavender flooded Kaname's sensitive nose. The heat from the bathroom raced towards the cooler bedroom air and held with it the loud echoes of slow wet steps slowly sauntered closer and closer to him. For some indescribable reason, Kaname took a step back and closed his eyes to readjust his wildly turning thoughts.

Nevertheless, when Kaname reopened them, he forgot how to breathe.

The intensity of illicit hunger for things that Kaname _dared_ not name crashed into him like a whirlwind. Kiryu's grayish lavender orbs pieced into his very soul as if he were internally summoning a terrible sleeping entity within him that had never been awoken before. This slowly awakening entity enticed Kaname to take one forbidden step towards Kiryu.

Kiryu then looked away from him, and Kaname realized he needed more air.

Freed from the unexpected deadly snare that was Kiryu's eyes, Kaname's mind was forever imprinted with the vision that was Silver Night.

His bright silver hair dripped with rose-scented water. It fell like a waterfall around one of his shoulders and flowed down the right side of his chest. He wore nothing but a thick white cotton towel that seemed like it would fall away at any future second, and his white moonlight skin was moist and slight colored ruby from his warm milk bath.

Kiryu gradually advanced towards him, and Kaname really needed to re-learn how to breath because he was suddenly finding it almost impossible to do it correctly. Kiryu stood four feet from him and bowed slightly at his hip. The action revealed his toned back muscles and the beginning edges of the white towel that concealed a secret treasure.

"What desire shall I fulfilled for you today, my master?" A deep and glossy voice assaulted him and weaved a cloudy spell in his mind.

Kaname quickly averted his eyes from the enigmatic treasure's domain. His thoughts were racing too quickly and to places he didn't even want to acknowledge. The words left his mouth before Kaname even realized what he was saying.

"Who are you?" This creature couldn't possibly be Zero Kiryu! This glorious creature had such a mysterious and enticing presence that it couldn't be Kiryu. The world before him fell away and this siren being beckoned him to a place that Kaname never knew existed in this living realm.

Kiryu straightened himself and took a surprisingly dangerous step closer to Kaname, who impulsively held up his hands to block full body contact with this wondrous and frighteningly desirable creature. It was a mistake. Between his palms, Kaname felt sultry wet velvety-smooth skin on his fingertips, and Kaname had the sudden animalistic urge to pull this creature towards him and – _those thoughts must not be named, Kaname! _

That silky deep voice stimulated him further. "My master, I am Silver Night." Smooth wet fingers slid up his neck and massaged behind his left ear in a slow circle. Silver pulled himself so close to Kaname's head that his hot breathe teasingly danced close to his right ear. "I will do anything and everything that will please you." Silver's other hand slid down Kaname's chest, down his abdominal wall, and landed right at the boundary that was his belt. Silver slowly parted his lips with his red tongue. "Your pleasure and happiness are my only desire."

Kaname turned his head towards him and was met with eyes that burned with a blaze that couldn't be described as simply lust. It would be an insult to call that flame _lust_. Those grayish-purple orbs summon something inside him that Kaname hadn't felt in his **_entire life_**. A sudden desire to claim arose within him, and he moved his head towards this extraordinarily splendid creature's crimson lips.

Knock. Knock.

The sound of a wooden door being thumped slammed into his ear like an alarm clock. Kaname's mind stirred as if he had woken up from a spell.

"My liege, a phone call from the Queen's mansion is waiting for you on line three." Rio, his Butler, announced.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N: Hello again, my lovely readers! Thank you for reading my tale so far! I'm going to be taking a little two-day break in updating! But please feel free to comment, share, and review to tell me how I'm doing! I love getting feedback! It helps me smile, which helps me to write faster! XD  
**


	6. Chapter 5 Cake, Part II

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Ruka and Yuki shared a unique bond. They were both victims of Kaname's selfishness. However, Ruka decided to hold on to her bravery. She understood Yuki's feelings very well, but Kaname was still the King and Yuki was still the Queen. She had a duty to attend tomorrow's ball. Ruka was going to try her very best to convince her to go and -

The wine glass that was in Yuki's hand cracked into a millions little piece. "Ruka, what did you just say?" Yuki darkly said as she stared at her.

"Kaname requested your presence at the Annual Winter Ball, Yuki." She repeated herself.

"Did you inform him that I was not going?" Yuki dangerously whispered.

Ruka started to sweat. This was the second time she had to feel that scary pure-blood aura again. And combining it with unexpected jet-lag, made its impact on her psyche a lot worst. "I did, but he further insisted."

Both women were in Yuki's new private luxury boudoir. If one thought that they were well-off, they should take just one glance at Yuki's new private chamber. It would make the richest of peoples feel like they lived in squalor and poverty. The odd triple colors that painted the room and much of Yuki's new homewere silver, purple, and white. Those colors were everywhere. Ruka had the strangest feeling that she was missing a very important piece about this hold mess between her king and queen and that these oddly selected colors were the key to that mystery.

Yuki lay very still on her white chaise lounge. The sharp pieces of glasses made little indentions in her hand, but she paid the blood and pain no attention. Without any show of pain, she used her long bright-purple fingernails to pull out the small pieces of crystal in her hand.

The sight disturbed Ruka greatly, but Yuki kept her silence and was lost in her own thoughts.

Suddenly, there was a gently knocking on her door. Yuki immediately recognized the familiar knocking melody. "You may come in." She quietly said.

As emotionless as usual, Seiren carefully poked her purple head in the room. "You have an important call waiting for you, my Queen."

Yuki pressed her lips together. "Who would dare call me now?" She hissed.

Seiren really didn't know how to really say it, but then again, how do you announce that one's husband's main enemy requests some of your attention? Seiren simply decided to plunge ahead despite the consequences.

"One of the Ten Vampire Kings: European Vampire King, Maxwell Von Anderson, requests some of your time." Seiren announced.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Cake, Part 2 **

* * *

**Present **

"Daddy!" A happy cheerful voice squealed into Kaname's ear from his phone receiver. It was a welcomed cold shower to his thoughts after a...previous interesting exchange five minutes ago. "I'm so excited to go to the Ball tomorrow! I can't wait to see you! I'm so happy!" Juri, his innocent baby girl, said. "Haruka's with me as well! Mommy allowed us both to spend the night with you today, but she wants us back a day after the Ball!"

Kaname smiled despite himself. His daughter was a breath of fresh air for him and the entire palace. She reminded him immensely of Takuma. She was so positive and bright that she seemed more human than vampire like Takuma was.

"Juri, you're hurting my ear." Haruku's low voice snapped.

Kaname couldn't see it, but he was sure his daughter was sticking out her tongue at him. "We will be in the palace in about," here there was a pause, "four hours!" She happily laughed.

Kaname rubbed his eyes in gratefulness to the heavens. His children were a most welcome distraction from thoughts of that...previous intense exchange with Silver, no _Kiryu_, a moment ago. Kaname was extremely embarrassed at how he reacted. It was almost as if he was under a daze and Silver's, no _Kiryu's_, hot wet skin slid effortlessly over his hands, and he _wanted_ –

_Your child is still on the phone, Kaname._ His brain sharply remained him. Kaname blinked. "I'll notify the prince's and princess palaces of your arrival then." Kaname said. Ah yes, children. His children. He would definitely spend the majority of this night with them and forget about what just occurred a moment ago. Actually, nothing had occurred a moment ago. Absolutely _nothing_ had happened. In fact, that _nothing_ would _never happen again_.

He would make sure of it.

* * *

Their private jet was getting ready for takeoff. Mother's new mansion had everything! Juri smiled to herself. It had its own private runway for jets, planes, and helicopters. It had numerous gardens and a forest. The mansion had over seventy-five rooms with each room more glorious than the last – a beauty salon and spa, a gym, a dojo, three kitchen, a game room, etc. It was something that Juri loved being at. It had everything a girl could ever want, and the color design was just so bright and feminine! Juri loved it. Mother always had the best of tastes. She would miss the cozy mansion a bit.

Juri's smile turned into a frown. Despite her love affair with her new home, what Juri didn't like was what was happening between her parents.

Juri turned off her newest cell phone and turned to her brother, "Do you think our parents suspect anything about our real reason for wanting to come back to the palace a little bit?"

Haruka rolled his eyes. "I doubt it. However, we still need to be careful. After all, we need to figure out why their feuding in the first place. I can almost bet that its father's fault."

"Don't say that!" Juri snapped. "It was just a huge misunderstanding between two stubborn people."

Haruka rolled his eyes. Right. That battle between father and mother was just a 'huge misunderstanding'. Now that Juri has proven that her eyes weren't anything more than useless glass balls, he wanted to shake his head. Both saw the fight that took place in the Queen's private palace between mother and father. That wasn't a simple misunderstanding – that was a true battle-to-the-death!

He felt like sighing deeply. His sister was the woman he might be stuck with for the rest of his life (being his unofficial fiance), and she was this naive? He would much rather have a woman like his mother by his side when he ruled as king then this hopeful, wish-for-the-best-despite-common-sense idiot.

"Whatever. Just don't give away our intentions. We'll look for clues after the ball, so just have fun with him for the rest of the night and all of tomorrow." Haruka ordered her.

* * *

Silver's right eye wanted to twitch.

It took great discipline, but he also resisted the urging to twitch his eyebrows. After all, he didn't want premature wrinkles.

His new master never returned after that intense exchange. Silver decided to dry his hair and finish his various beauty treatments and routine. One did not become as physically desirable as Silver was because of genetics alone. Nope – one had to work hard, plan, create, and evaluate everything about oneself all the time in order to keep up his illusions. The stress to maintain his youthful and pleasing form was something he'd grown used to over the years.

Silver had a sudden odd thought – if he ever became a free and completed person, he would get himself a pot-bell - just to spite the world.

Damn that Butler!

He was _so close_ to having that man right where he wanted him, and that blasted Butler ruined the _entire moment_.

He resisted the urge to grind his teeth and decided to re-plan his next plan of action. One of his best tactics, the rising Water Goddess (or God, because he was a male) Temptation technique was something he couldn't employ again anytime soon. It was a technique he developed after he was inspired by the painting "The Birth of Venus" and hundreds of hours of watch romance movies he saw in his free time over the many long years.

Such a scene was slightly different in each event, but the general theme was of a scantily clothed person rising out of the depths of a mysterious body of water in order to fulfill the great desire of whoever saw them first. Silver was playing out that exact same fantasy but in a way that was highly realized and intensified by his well-honed signature "Siren's Glaze."

But he wouldn't be able to use this great tactic again for a long time. Originality was important in a seduction, and Silver didn't want his master to catch on to the fact that he was being seduced in the first place. Rather than inspiring pure lust, seduction needed the component of illusionary love. That feeling of love wouldn't be inspired if his master thought for one moment he was being manipulated into desiring something he usually wouldn't have wanted in the first place.

No, Silver need his master to think he, the man _himself_, was the one in command of the all present and future exchanges between them. Silver need his master to think _he_ was taking those forbidden steps all on _his_ own towards him as an object of his master's chosen desire.

Subtle ideas, faint suggestions, hinted fantasies, implied needs, restrained acts – those were the best weapons Silver had to convince his master that he was the true instigator of their exchanges, and thus his new master would never see or know that _Silver_ was, _in reality_, the hidden master of his heart.

Yet, the fact still remained; that wonderful technique had been working _so_ well! But it had been ruined.

How long would Silver have to wait for the man to show up again? Another two weeks? Honestly?

Silver pulled up the covers of his bed and decided to get an early long rest. After all, nothing else would happen to him for the rest of tonight.

* * *

**The Following Night **

Ruka stared at her husband as they made their way to the Ball that was about to start in 10 minutes. After Yuki had spoken to that Maxwell man, she had agreed to come to the Ball. Upon hearing that, Ruka suddenly had the strange urge to cry tears of joy at the decision, but then Yuki did something that chilled her soul.

She invited that man to the event.

Ruka pinched her nose. "I think we'll all die tonight." She told her red-headed husband.

Akatsuki Kain slid his gold-brown eyes towards her. "Thanks for the heads up, dear." He airily stated. "I hadn't planned to die today, but thanks for warning me of my imminent demise."

Ruka ignored his sarcasm. He'd become quite too sassy after fifty years of marriage.

The only good thing about this entire situation was that Yuki had allowed the children to spend three days with their father because of the event. She saw them earlier this afternoon, and they looked happy, if not a bit subdued because of the entire situation. However, Haruka and Juri were really happy to see their father after so long a wait. Well, Juri was happier to see their father. Haruka never seemed to care too much about his father when it concerned his mother.

Nevertheless, another good thing about this was that even Yuki didn't want them caught in the middle of...whatever this thing was between Kaname and herself. The children had spend all of yesterday and today with their father. Juri was her usual bouncy, daddy's little princess, self, but Haruka seemed to be even cooler towards his father than usual.

That boy always took his mother's side in everything. However, she knew Kaname was the real reason for it - he treated that boy more as a king would a heir, rather than a father would a son.

Still, Ruka felt like the world was soon to end. She knew that when Yuki shown up, there would be trouble. All the upper-level vampires in the Far Eastern Vampire Realm knew their Queen and King were feuding. She was sure a few rebels were planing to take advantage of the situation soon. Plus, she couldn't get pass the fact that Kaname's rule was ruthless. A lot of people were quite unhappy with him and only stayed quiet because Yuki balanced the court well. Naysayers may not have cared much for their King, but they loved their Queen. Yuki had the power of the people's opinion on her side.

Despite their past interactions, Ruka was very glad she had made an alliance of friendship with him when she did. Kaname proved to be the best horse to bet on, so to speak. Her influence as a member of his inner council was a welcomed advantage in this new vampire era.

Nevertheless, Ruka had a feeling she was missing something big. Even after one year, Yuki and Kaname haven't explained why they were fighting in the first place. That situation alone would have made this entire event more of an endurance training camp then a pleasurable social gathering of the elite it was originally intend to be.

However, the European Vampire King, Maxwell Von Anderson, was coming tonight. As if the situation _before_ wasn't stressful enough.

Kaname was going to be **_furious_**.

* * *

The Ball was soon to start.

"We now announce the arrival of, Prince Haruku and Princess Juri Kuran, to the hall!" A large and red-faced announcer yelled to the ballroom.

Haruka held his sister's hand as they made their way down the staircase and into the grand ballroom. One the north wall sat his empty father's throne, and the south wall had his mother's. The crowd tonight was massive. Business leaders, socialites, media personalities, and the representatives of the Eastern Court's vassal states and territories were all there.

Haruka knew that one day he would rule over all these people, and he wanted to make a grand impression. He wore a solemn and simple black tuxedo with matching gloves and shoes. His small crown laid on his pulled-back black hair. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew he was serious about his responsibilities and shouldn't be taken lightly. He was a master of his actions. He was a worthy heir to his father. He would be a good future father to his nation, and he wanted everyone to see that when they looked at him.

So why did his _sister_ feel the need to wear a bright hot-pink dress that seemed like it was inspired for a failed Disney princess?

He wanted to sigh out loud.

His family was really so frustrating.

He came to the floor and turned back around to wait for his father's grand entrance. Tradition dictated that both his parents would walk in together, but Haruka knew there was not a chance of that happening today. He just hoped his father's people would hush up the tabloids quickly. He didn't want to risk the chance of his mother reading them and being hurt by the mean things people would say.

* * *

"We now announce the arrival of our beloved majesty – the Vampire King of the Far Eastern Midnight Realm, King Kaname Kuran." The chubby announcer said.

Every person stopped what they were doing and turned as one to the western entrance of the grand ballroom.

Kaname Kuran looked down on his people and turned left towards his high platform throne. As he took large and imposing steps towards his king's seat, he could sense the eyes of every man and woman upon him.

As Vampire King of the Far Eastern Vampire Realm, Kaname Kuran sat on his colossal black-gold throne. Numerous onyx stones, bloody rubies, and brilliant diamonds framed every nick, space, and cranny available on it. Pure Nubian gold traced the outline of the inky wood. The Eastern Vampire's King's black throne overwhelmed and loomed like a dark inescapable shadow over the large ballroom. The huge throne was located on the northern wall of the space.

It had taken about ten vampire men to transport the throne from Kaname's daily courtroom that was located in his private palace. It wasn't usual that the throne was transported; it was only moved three times out of the year.

Kaname was dressed in his royal uniform. It was a luxurious handmade solid black silk tuxedo suit. The jacket had a canvassed construction with a single breasted six button front and was aligned with golden Japanese satin lapel at the front. Its long sleeves had four working cuffs, which were closed with four ruby cufflinks. His slacks featured double reverse pleats with un-cuffed hems and were lined to the knee. A gold silk stripe ran down each leg. Blood red gloves hugged his hands, and his black Oxford dress shoes with golden trimmings gleamed in the winter twilight.

Kaname's face was flawless, and his pale skin glowed with impressive power. His dark-brown eyes took in every detail of the room. Every jewel, every glass, every guest was under his heavy glance. His mouth made no movement, and his eyes pierced the room with frightening intent.

On his head was the symbol of his power – his blood-brought crown. Made of solid gold and perched on top of his head, it drew every eye in the room. Four golden tendrils trailed from the crown and surrounded his head and face.

Kaname casually glanced towards the southern wall area of the room. The Queen's throne, which was a lesser twin to his throne, was located on the southern wall of the large ballroom space. However, it was currently empty except for a lone servant who stood there with a large black feather fan.

Where was Yuki?

* * *

Yuki stepped out of her black hover limo. Maxwell smiled at her and tipped his head and cane. "Allow me to go in first, my lady."

"Is there a reason why?" Yuki cautiously asked with a black eyebrow arched perfectly. Even though she invited the Foreign King to the Ball for her own purposes, she didn't trust him in the slightest.

"I want to get a good spot to see his expression when he sees you." The Vampire King of Europe, Maxwell Von Anderson, said. "After all, he is so _fun_ to _tease_." The man malevolently said.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N: **I'm back! Thanks for waiting, my lovely readers! As a reminder, this story is a dark, intense, and psychological tale. While happy and romantic moments may occur, please don't really expect them _too_ much. Anyway, please leave me a review! The best gifts to a writer are happy reviews from their readers! ** XD  
**


	7. Chapter 6 Cake, Part III

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**Present**

The European Vampire King, Maxwell Von Anderson, smiled politely at his long-time enemy. The man was pitilessly handsome. His short blond hair was slicked loosely to the back of his nape, and his icy blue eyes froze any person unlucky enough to be caught in his glare. He wore a deceivable simple dark-blue designer suit. His white gloved fingers held a matching cane lightly.

"My goodness, Kaname, why so scary?" Maxwell amused, as he took in Kaname's entire presence. "Your people must truly fear you."

Kaname gave him a black glare. "I don't remember inviting you to this event, Maxwell."

The European Pureblood's eyes gleamed. "Do you even plan these sorts of things, my _dear_ friend? I thought those duties were left to your wife." He smiled. His pearl white teeth mocked his younger peer. "She's the one that invited me here after all."

Kaname glare grew ten degrees darker. What exactly was Yuki thinking when she did such a thing? Maxwell was the second oldest Vampire King among the ten. He did not hold that position without blood, pain, and pure manipulation. Why was she and Maxwell even in contact with each other in the first place?

"Stay away from my wife, Maxwell." Kaname hissed.

One of Maxwell's blond eyebrow rose. "And if I don't?" He leaned close to Kaname. If a casual observer looked over to them at that moment, he or she would have thought they were kissing. "What will you do if I don't stay away from your wife?"

"I will kill you."

Maxwell's eyes flashed. "Oh, I'll hope you'll try." He smoothly laughed.

Icy blue eyes met dark-brown orbs and the two vampire kings locked themselves into a mental battle.

Unexpectedly, the count announcer loudly cried, "Attention Court! The Queen of the Far Eastern Realm is presenting." The announcement stopped their stare battle with each other. Kaname's mouth twitched and pressed itself into a thin angry line.

Yuki was here at last. He needed to speak to her immediately.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Cake, Part III**

* * *

**Present**

"Attention Court! The Queen of the Far Eastern Realm is presenting." The announcer loudly called out.

Haruka stopped what he was doing and shot a quick glance at his sister. Even Juri looked surprised. They weren't expecting their mother to come to the Annual Winter Ball, but here she was. Haruka didn't know if this was a good thing, but maybe Juri and he could figure out a way to get their parents back together through this event.

The crowd went silent and as one they all turned back again to the grand staircase.

The Queen was a Dark Goddess.

The long fur of the rare white arctic wolf flowed down her shoulders and trailed down her back like a level one snowstorm. Her dark plum silk evening dress plunged down her chest to teasingly reveal her beautiful shaped alabaster breasts. Two high front splits clawed up her thighs revealing her matching plum high heels that were drenched in amethysts.

Swathed around her neck were numerous large amethyst and diamond jewels that were incarcerated into her silver-gold choker. Both of her hands were drenched in silver diamond rings and dark purple nail polish.

The back part of her long black hair was pulled up and arranged in a complex up-do bun that was decorated with various jeweled head ornaments. The front part of her hair framed her artistically painted face, and rested against her long fur coat. Deep plum eye shadow haunted her eyes and her lips with colored with scarlet violet lipstick.

The entire message of the outfit was clear: You may see, but dare not want. If you want, don't desire to touch, because if you touch, you will _die_.

The fashion tabloids were going to have a field day. The Queen, by a large margin, was the most impressively well-dressed person in the entire palace this night.

Queen Kuran looked down at her court. Then she swept her eyes towards the King. She nodded her head towards him and proceed to her throne at the opposite side of the ballroom.

The entire room held in their breathe as she walked, step by slow step, towards her destined goal.

Turning back around, she looked down at the crowd and said, "You may official begin the Annual Winter Ball Gathering." She then sat down.

* * *

Kaname narrowed his eyes. Yuki wasn't wearing her Queen's uniform but something entirely different. He knew that the more aware members of his inner court would sense that there was a private meaning by her clothing choice, and the thought greatly displeased him.

She was covered in white, purple, and silver colors. He understood his wife's private message to him. Those three colors were in honor of Kiryu and was intended to slap him in the face. Her secret message to him was easy to understand: You may have murdered him, Kaname, but Kiryu and I are still _**one**_.

_Won't she be surprised when she learns I have her beloved Kiryu?_ Kaname thought darkly to himself. She'll have to do everything he'll command, and he would relish and savory the chance to humble her rebellious haughtiness.

"Kaname, you certainly are a lucky bastard." Maxwell whispered more to himself then for Kaname's ears. His eyes seemed to sparkle. Kaname glared at him. How dare a man lust after one's wife right in front of him? Has he no shame? "If my past queen had looked half as good as yours, I wouldn't have murdered her."

Kaname shot a surprised looked at the Foreign King. It was true? He had heard rumors...

Maxwell smirked and turned away from him. He wanted to mingle with these fun vampires a bit before he left.

* * *

Haruka looked at his mother, then he looked at his sister. He looked back at his mother. Then, _again_, he looked at his sister.

How exactly were those two related again? Mother and daughter, were they not?

Haruka had thoughts that no son should really have. He much prefer a woman like his mother to be his future wife. It matched him much better than this puppy-like, pink girl beside him.

But both of his parents seemed to prefer Juri more than him. More so his father, rather than his mother. Haruka didn't truly understand why that was so. He worked so hard to prove himself. He worked, studied, and improved until he was perfect at something, but it never seemed enough. His father would just nod his head once and expected him to continue without needing further words of his approval. However, his mother would always give him the praise and approval he sought after. She wasn't short of congratulating him on his accomplishments, but she was always so sad when he looked her in the eyes.

Juri got the praise and bright attention of both parents. It was somewhat unfair to him. However, in the end, he knew which of the two had his loyalty more – and it would never be his father.

* * *

Maxwell sauntered closer to Yuki with a devilish smirk on his lips. "Your husband is positively _livid_ at my presence here tonight!" He winked at her. "I love his enraged face – it is really quite _cute_."

Yuki delicately huffed her amused. "You haven't changed at all since I've first met you. You've always _liked_ to be _disliked_ by my _dear_ husband." She shook her head at him. "I've always wondered why you hated him so."

Maxwell lifted the corners of his lips. "I had something in my eye that he took from me. Well, it really wasn't mine to begin with." He coolly smiled at her. "But I want to see if I can steal it away."

Yuki knew exactly what - no, to be more accurate, _who_ - he was referring to.

"Shall we dance, my lady?" Maxwell lightly asked. "I _really_ want to see more of his fury." He smirked.

* * *

Perhaps Kaname was dreaming – no, Kaname was not one to believe a lie. He faced reality despite the pain it brought him.

Before his very eyes, Maxwell and Yuki were dancing. Not just any dance - the first dance. The dance that was supposed to be taken by the king and queen first.

Maxwell clearly dreamed for death. Kaname had never been so insulted in all his life. And Yuki! What in the world was that stupid woman thinking? Or was she thinking at all?

It took much of his self-control not to unleash his killing intent upon the inhabitants of the ballroom. If he did that now, not only would the entire room quake in fear, but the rumor mill would be renewed with new flames and further place his kingdom on edge.

Plus, his unleashed fury was probably Maxwell's intent goal in the first place. Kaname would rather be tortured than allow that man the pleasure of knowing he got under his skin.

But Yuki would suffer for this. Oh, he wouldn't physically hurt her - Kaname preferred to keep his things beautiful, but she would know that he was tired and greatly displeased of this entire charade. And he knew exactly where he could hurt her where it would burn the most.

* * *

Ruka tightly grabbed her husband's arm. She had just seen Kaname's face. The expression, that _particular_ expression! By darkness and night, where the hell was Takuma Ichijo when you needed him? Only he could calm Kaname down when he got that way. Hell, where was Hanabusa? She could use him as a meat shield!

"We are going to get their children now and leave the room." Ruka hissed to her husband. "They don't need to see this."

His husband held her back. "Their children on the only thing that can stop the fight if it does break out."

Ruka grounded her teeth. Her husband was right, but she didn't like seeing the children being used that way.

* * *

Haruku falsely laughed at a small joke by the short pulp man beside him. It was a pretty corny joke, but the man was a high profile CEO. Haruku wanted to make a nice impression. He lightly sipped on the white vegan wine in his glass. He rolled the odd liquid on his tongue.

Juri fanned herself with her bright pink fan. "It's so hot in here!" Juri mumbled. "I think I want to go outside for a bit." She said out loud.

Like a pride of piranhas that have just scented fresh blood, seven young man stepped up to her and offered to walk with her around the garden outside. Haruku's right eye twitched. He recognized five of those very same men. They were a part of his graduating high school class two years ago. His sister and himself attended Cross Academy Night Class as per his mother's instructions and desires. Mother had been an alumna of the school, and she was their main benefactor at fundraising parties and whatnot.

The majority of his peers stayed far away from him despite his long stay there. However, Juri was the class butterfly. There was always crowds of people around her, and she easily held the attention of anyone who caught her eye.

Juri was so un-vampire like it almost made Haruku want to cry in frustration.

Juri looked at Haruku and smiled at him, seemingly asking for his permission to go. Haruku rolled his eyes and nodded his acceptance. Like she even need it, really.

He watched her as a bright ball of pink march towards the door that lend to the balcony outside. A trail of seven teen boys trailing after her like little chicks would a mother hen.

He was suddenly alone and felt like he was severely abandoned.

He didn't like this feeling at all.

* * *

After five minutes of hiding against a shadowed wall, Haruka felt a small tapping on his shoulder. He turned around and was met with the kind eyes of his mother. "Mother." He said in breathless surprised.

"I was dancing and I saw that you were alone." His mother smiled at him. Haraka looked around to see his father. Didn't he usually take the first dance with her?

Haruka frowned. There was an odd blond man talking to that CEO he was with just a moment ago.

Mother straightened out his black tie. She frowned at his quickly becoming wild hair tresses. "Why the glum face, my son?"

"I'm not sad, mother." Haruka blushed. By darkness, she wasn't going to lick her fingers and fix his hair like he was a little kid was she?

"Do you want some cake?" She asked smiling. "Cake always makes a person feel good."

Haruka blinked. "Uh, sure."

His mother's brown eyes started to twinkle. "I'll get you my favorite one. You must eat every piece."

Haruka looked at her in horror. "Not the oatmeal cake! I prefect chocolate ones, mom!"

"But oatmeal cakes have a lot of fiber, and you are a growing boy." His mother continued to tease. She kissed him on the forehead. "Cheer up! I'll be right back."

Haruka knew he looked like a tomato. Why did mother like that strange and simple desert anyway? She was a Queen, for darkness's sake! She could have any expensive taste she wanted, but she choose oatmeal cakes?

Haruka sighed. His mood somewhat improved. Mother was a funny woman.

* * *

Kaname bid his time. It took great self-control, but he was able to calm himself. Yuki had stopped dancing with that vile man, and had gone over to meet their son who was standing alone near a wall.

Kaname frowned at the boy. Haruka really needed to stop being so anti-social. Honestly, he was wasting this good opportunity to socialize and create future important connections. He would need to have a serious talk with him about his lack of diligence for his duties.

He watched as Yuki walked away from their son and head towards the large food and desert table located on the eastern glass wall. _Prefect_. Now was the time. He would reveal to her that he had Kiryu and he couldn't wait to see her expression when she saw the man again. However, would Silver - no, _Kiryu -_ even recognized Yuki? Kiryu hadn't seem to recognized Kaname despite their intense exchange. Kaname briefly wondered if Kiryu would also not recognized Yuki as well. Kaname darkly smirked. Oh dear, what would Yuki _think_ if the supposed _love of her life_ didn't even _recognized_ her? That would be so deliciously ironic.

Kaname pressed his lips together and using his powers, he crafted a spell that would not bring people's attention to himself as he moved among them and towards her.

While a speed and grace that were inhuman, he met her near the desert table.

"Goodnight, Yuki." He said slowly. He kept his face expressionless and his emotions in check.

"Goodnight, Kaname." She replied equally emotionless. One of her hands held a rich piece of oatmeal cake.

Kaname looked at her. "When are you coming back home?"

Yuki's eyes flashed. She quietly slammed the cake in her hand on the table. "I don't have a home with _you_." She hissed.

Kaname reached towards her and pulled her close. "Oh? You are still my wife, Yuki." Kaname darkly whispered in her ear and held her close to him. "Despite the past, you will always be my _wife_ and I will always be your _husband_."

Yuki pulled herself away from him like he was a dirty disease. Eyes blazing, she hissed her poisonous words. "You were my _second_ choice in that."

In an instant, Kaname wanted to slap the bitch.

Second choice. Second choice? _Second choice_! He was her second choice? _He_? How dare she! How _dare_ she say such a thing to him!

Yuki picked up her cake and marched back towards their son. Kaname nursed his fury as he stood there watching her back.

With all his pride and with all the greatest amount of self-control he had left, he picked up a sake and vodka mixture bottle of alcohol and a tall crystal glass. He evenly made his way back to his shadowed throne and sat on it. He made himself look like the very embodiment of a calm and bored ruler slipping on his chosen drink. As he took the first slip, he realized the drink was extremely strong. He was had to slip on this beverage very slowly.

_He was her second choice._

The Ball continued on and on for hours.

Kaname slowly nursed drink after drink in order to calm his fury. His thoughts darken further and further.

He was the second choice, eh? He, a King among vampires, was the _second_ choice?

Then who exactly was her first?

Kaname knew the answer to that question better than anyone else.

Kiryu should pay for this insult.

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. However, the next chapter will have dark violence. Reader beware!  
**


	8. Chapter 7 First Pain

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot_  
_**

**_Warning: In this chapter, there is intense sexual violence! It may be a trigger! Reader beware!_**

* * *

**100 Years Ago**

It was the screams of those he didn't know that had woken him up. Those painful screams and the sharp bite of cold metal bars. Zero felt heavy chains on his arms and legs and he felt a large metal collar around his throat. He was also hanging in a large metal cage in a dirty and icy underground room.

He was trapped.

His metal bindings didn't allow him to move much. Zero peeled open his left eye and blinked. His right eye had been pierced, and his blood had dried it shut. What little he had left of his torn white wedding suit was bloodied and hanging off his ragged and wounded body. Zero's broken right hand throbbed and was turning black and purple.

_What happen to Yuki?_ He thought. _What happen to the wedding?_ He'd been walking towards his car and had been suddenly attacked by nine Level C vampire men and one noble vampire - and he'd never fought so _desperately_ before - and that _rotten evil bastard Kuran_ –

Zero's wild train of thought stopped. He didn't know when he'd noticed it but the screaming that had awoken him had suddenly been stopped. A sick feeling of dread overtook him.

A door opened, and two men walked in. A handsome middle-aged man with short silver hair and cruel silver eyes looked at him. His partner was a younger man and would have been handsome if a ugly scar hadn't disfigured the entire right side of his face.

"And the customer just wanted us to kill him and burn the body?" The silver-haired man said.

"Yes, my lord." The scar man replied.

"When did you get him?"

"The day of his wedding. He'd put up a very good fight. We lost six men before we could take him down. He's a vampire hunter."

A dark look entered the silver-haired man's eyes. "Wonderful." The man smiled as his looked over at Zero. "He's far too pretty to just simply kill. He could fetch a nice price in the underground. Plus we could make a nice profit from a few films that could feature him. A vampire hunter is a rare novelty. They'll eat it up."

Zero couldn't speak. Something about the silver-haired man terrified him deep within his soul to the point that his naturally rebellious tongue wouldn't dare move. Zero Kiryu was familiar with evil. He knew rottenness when he saw it, but that man wasn't just simply evil – that man was darkness itself.

"Break him completely, Kenichi." The silver-haired man said to his younger companion. "Destroy his soul and mind. I want to remake him."

* * *

**Chapter Five: First Pain**

* * *

Silver heard the party winding down. Despite the large distance, his ears caught the sounds of glass clinging and feet dancing. So...there was a party, and he wasn't informed? Silver should his head - that was _so_ _typical_.

Silver was rarely ever invited to attend a party his past masters ever held. There were a variety of reasons for it. Some were embarrassed that they had a Doll in the first place. Others simply didn't care about their Doll's needs for social activity and contact. But Silver knew that one reason trumped all other reasons of why he would be kept away.

People jealously hide what is most precious to them. And Silver became very precious to a master extremely fast.

However, Silver didn't think that was the case with his new master. The man baffled him. Silver truly didn't understand what the man wanted from him. At first, Silver thought he would want pleasure like all those before him, but the man hadn't even tried to bed him despite him being here for the past two weeks and Silver's first physical seduction. Perhaps pride kept the man away? After all, he was a king. He could have any creature he wanted and while Dolls were greatly desired, there was still a slight taboo of having one in some circles of vampire society.

Nevertheless, the Butler Rio had given him a book to read for the time being. It was a kind gesture that greatly surprised him. The man never spoke more than ten words to him whenever he was in Silver's presence. Silver didn't know if it was because it was an order from his new master, or it was just the man's natural personality. However, Silver would catch him, time and time again, giving him a pitying look that would be hidden in a flash. Silver always pretended that he didn't notice it.

After hours of reading, Silver stopped. He turned to the surprising sound of his door opening.

* * *

Fury. Disgrace. **Anger**. Humiliation. _Rage_. _Mortification_. Vehemence. **Embarrassment**. Passion. **Dishonor**. Fury. _Fury_. **Fury**.

Those small words could not describe the pure emotions of what Kaname felt. His anger was out of control and unfocused. The Ball was over, but Yuki had left with that blond-haired bastard earlier in the evening. Second choice. _Second choice. **Second choice.**_

No one tried to approach him. None would dare. After all, despite the fact that he had projected a calm image, Kaname knew his malevolent aura would spite here and there throughout the event. Even the photographers and paparazzi stayed far, far away from him.

His children had retired to their private palaces and the servants were cleaning up. He picked himself up and loosely held the nearly empty glass bottle of alcohol in his fingers. He walked upright and straight towards his palace. But his head was spinning, and his rage at that _bitch's_ _insulting rejection_ kept playing over and over again in his mind.

She would dare call him the second choice? _The second choice._ The only reason why she _existed_ was for him and **_only him_**. She breathed because he'd allow it. How dare she have someone else in her heart? How dare she? Second choice. _Second choice. **Second choice.**_

He was never second in anything in his life.

This was Kiryu's fault. _Kiryu's fault._ **_Kiryu's fault_**. If he hadn't existed and hadn't poison her mind with thoughts of him... Kaname blinked. His fury suddenly found a pinpoint focus. **_Kiryu_**.

He had Kiryu. He had Kiryu in his utter control. He could do anything to Kiryu and that stupid boy couldn't do a thing back. _Kiryu_.

Kaname suddenly wanted to rip him to pieces, and he wanted to hear him scream.

* * *

This was the third time Silver had seen the man, and his newest master was dangerously drunk. A large glass bottle of a sake and vodka mixture was gripped tightly in his hands. The book Silver had been reading dropped from his hands when his master's dark brown eyes met his own grayish-purple orbs.

It was in that instant, that Silver knew death was close by.

The Vampire King's eyes narrowed dangerously. A fury that could only be described as demonic painted itself on his usually very handsome face. "I'm the second choice." He said.

Silver had no idea what he meant by that. Silver didn't even know how to react to such a sentence. He hadn't come to fully understand his new master and the meanings in his words could have been anything.

But one thing was clear - he was near a dangerous edge. The man looked very capable of murder right now, and Silver was the only person in his slights. This was an extremely dangerous position. Silver had yet to establish himself with his master, so his master may desire to unleash his fury on to him because of his currently helplessly position. Damn that stupid Butler! Had Silver been able to consumed intercourse then, Silver wouldn't be as helpless as he was now. He would have at least known what the man liked in order to calm him down. Silver need to approach this situation cautiously and tacitly. After all, the man could literally tear him apart with his power and not a soul would care. If he was to survive this, he had to be careful.

He slowly stood up from his sofa. "What is your desire, my master?" Silver calmly repeated the line he had spoken millions of times before.

He didn't even see it coming.

The bottle of alcohol was slammed against his skull. Bright red blood poured down his left temple. Silver was suddenly dizzy and dazed. The king grabbed his throat and started to chock him. "Why am I the second choice? I've always loved her!" Silver grabbed at his master's hand trying to get free. _Too close_ - the man was far closer to the edge that he previously realized. He couldn't think. The situation was swirling out of control.

_I can't breathe, you insane bloodsucking traitorous bastard._

Without warning and with complete surprise, Silver's eyes lit up despite the pain he was in. That particular thought was not his. It almost seemed like it came from within him. Could it be that his true self-

Silver lost his train of thought as his master continued on his odd tirade.

"How could I be the second choice? I took care of her!" His master's grip loosened for a moment. Silver had a sudden urge to protect himself. He needed to grab his gun that was hidden in his school coat and - _wait_, what gun? What coat? Silver wasn't wearing a coat, and he didn't carry or use weapons. Why was he suddenly thinking about a gun he never had? However, that train of thought was also lost to him because he was suddenly slammed to the hard marble ground.

Silver let out a bloody wheeze. Two of his ribs were broken because of that impact, and that ground slam created a harsh indention in the floor.

Sill dazed, Silver felt his master's claws dig into his skin and drag painfully across his chest. His clothes offered no protection, and it took much in Silver to hold in his painful scream. He knew that it was not a good idea to scream right now. It would set the man off even further. If the man was a true sadist, he would enjoy the screaming and would be encouraged to push it further. If the man wasn't, then screaming would only unsettle him and he may try to end this entire exchange in a way that wouldn't be beneficial to Silver's future existence. Silver just didn't know this man thus anything was possible.

"How could you be the first choice? _How?_ A cursed vampire hunter. A lowly Level D. A fool and a wretch." His master viciously clawed into his skin. Every wound felt like fire. Every cut hissed and bled. Blood was quickly pouring onto the floor, and Silver continued to endure the assault. It was like his master wanted to create a lined bleeding painting on the flesh of his chest and arms.

Silver was bleeding from numerous wounds now. Plus he could hardly breathe at all. Yet still the man continued to mumble nonsense. "Now you are nothing more than a whore. A used and willing whore is what you are, and I'm the second choice? _A king the second choice?_" Silver felt a colossal shift in the man's odd thinking. Before, the man's fury was focused on a person who wasn't there. Silver thought he was simply projecting his wrath on a simple bystander object. However, now his master's rage seemed to be focused on himself entirely. What in the world did he do to deserve this?

_When have vampires even needed a reason to hurt an innocent person?_ Silver couldn't even focus on that inner thought that was not his own.

He needed to escape.

Silver struggled against the man in panic. He didn't understand what the crazed fool was saying, but he needed to get away from him if he was to survive this. He planted his knees on the ground and tired to push himself away. He could not hit the man – that would further enrage him. But he could push and pull and perhaps restraint. After all, Silver could smell the strong alcohol on his master's breath. Perhaps if Silver drew this exchange out, the alcohol would finish its course, and his master would go back to normal – whatever normal was for this man was anyway.

A clawed hand ripped down his chest and Silver struggled not to scream in agony. Silver didn't know what had come over the man, but something about this whole situation was frightening him from within. Memories of similar actions were now coming to his mind, and Silver renewed his struggles to get away. He tried to push the man away and bucked his hips, but suddenly he felt something that pushed his mind into a panicked filled horror. _No_, _not that._ _Not now._ He thought. _Anything but that right now._

His new master was aroused.

This was not how he wanted his first sex with the man to be. First sex was a defining moment. It laid the foundation of what they could have expected from each other. Silver was well practiced in creating beautiful illusions with previous masters which always worked to his advantage in the long run when this event transpired. If their first sex happen this way, it would make his life that much harder. Their first time together would always be remembered with blood and pain and humiliating dominance.

Renewed, Silver tried to struggle again. However, he didn't expect his master's next action.

The man bit him.

The pain was so surprising that Silver forgot how to breathe. His blood was ripped out of him with no remorse or pity. He held in his scream even as he tried to drag himself away from those merciless fangs. But he couldn't - his energy and strength was leaving him at a rapid pace.

His master suddenly let go of him. As if the blood theft wasn't even part of his plan. "Your blood tastes like a virgin, Kiryu." He stared to laugh for a moment. After a while, he stopped. "No wonder your previous johns desired you so much." His voice seemed to be darkly amused about it. He made a long wet lick across the two opening holes. " Kiryu, the whore, who tastes like a pure virgin." He rocked himself closer to Silver, and he finally seemed to notice his aroused state. His master's red eyes took on a calculating gleam.

_Who the hell was Kiryu?_ Silver thought in horror. He wasn't this Kiryu. He was Sil-

Instantly, his head exploded with the answer of a thousand broken and disjointed images – a forest, a broken chain, blood, black hair, a bloody rose, students wearing brown and black, students wearing white, a man wearing rounded glasses, a boy who looked just like him but was _not_ him – and the images were suddenly gone from his mind as if they were never there in the first place.

Silver couldn't speak. Mentally and physically - he was suddenly so tired. Then he heard the words he most dreaded.

"If I fucked you right now, Kiryu, would the first choice still taste the same." His master whispered evilly in his ear. "You'd been so willing yesterday." Silver's blood turned to stone, and he tried to renew his struggle but he was immediately overpowered and flipped to his stomach.

His pants were ripped to pieces as they were drawn to his knees. He felt his master's naked erection pressed against his unprepared entrance. "NO." Silver said. It was the last thing he thought. "Not like this."

Like a rusted old blade was slammed inside him, Silver saw white. Silver came to the horrifying conclusion that he was being raped. The pain was something he hadn't experienced for a long time thus he had fallen out of practice on what to do in such a situation.

But now, he would **_scream_**.

In. He screamed. Out.

In. He sobbed. Out.

Blood soon started to drip from his opening and down his thighs. His master's vampire claws continued to cut into the flesh of his back.

In. He wailed. Out.

In. He cried. Out.

His torturer continued with his actions. Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Hours passed. Days passed. Time seemed to pass more slowly, yet still be so quick and pain and _pain_ and **pain** and **_pain_ **-

Silver soon lost consciousness.

* * *

With a victorious grunt, Kamane came and fell on his prey. After the climax, his alcoholic induced fury had burned itself out upon his release. Slipping out of Kiryu and rolling to the side of the floor, he suddenly had a dazed realization of what he had just done. In a panic, he looked down at the boy, and his mind froze in horror with what he saw.

Kiryu looked like a bloody piece of hot meat.

And he had stopped breathing.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N: **I feel _**bad**_. Even my gut could barely stomach writing this - but that's why I started this in the first place. To push boundaries, etc. (Am I even doing okay in that regard?) However, to answer a question I've been asked a lot, let me clarify - this is a Yaoi _and_ a Het fic (and probably a dangerous push-and-pull love triangle thrown into it in the far future). However, the vast majority of sexual scenes will probably be Yaoi in nature due to the (ahem) plot. Hopefully, that clears it up for some of my lovely readers. Thanks for reading and please leave me a review!**  
**


	9. Chapter 8 Shock

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

Butler Rio leisurely marched to the King's palace. He carried with him a glass of water and two hangover recover pills. In all his sixty years of service to the young king, Rio didn't see him drink so much alcohol. In the past year, his drinking had increased exponentially, and thus his angry moods were becoming more and more common.

Rio was a butler and servant to the upper members of vampire society for 500+ years. He'd had watched as the last king was assassinated, the rise of the eastern vampire council, the destruction and fall of that very council, and the rise of the new current monarchy. He'd watched hundreds of people died, and he'd pitied thousands more. As a low Level C vampire with no family or prestige, he survived by being a good and faithful servant. When the new king had established himself, Rio had jumped at the chance to serve at his grand palace.

However, after sixty years of service to this new ruler, Rio was starting to have regrets. The King was a handsome and powerful man. He was smart, and he knew how to solve any problem that came his way. He was ambitious, and the people knew he was a man whom they could respectfully call their king.

But King Kuran was too selfish.

Rio had watched how he would blindly crush a person, just because they had a minor disagreement with him. Rio had watched how he demanded and ordered his wife around, and she would tirelessly work her best for him and do all that he would ask. He saw the casual disappointed tone the king would use when he spoke of his son. "When I was his age, I had created an inner circle and established connections in all realms of society. Why is he not doing anything?" His king would complaint to himself and when he thought the boy couldn't hear.

Really, the only person who looked at him with happy, honest, and accepting eyes was his daughter. She acted as if he was the best person in the world, and the king treated her better then even his own wife sometimes. Rio had to wonder at that. When he had first met the woman, she had been a ragged and bloody mess. He'd hear many odd stories about her.

Some stories said that after she had lost her first child, she had gone mad. She walked the streets by herself for five years and survived on the blood of Level E vampires. She would haunt a particular graveyard from time to time and then disappear for weeks at a time. His king had kept a secretive eye on her and when the woman had regained herself, she came back to him.

Rio remembered her as a dirty, disheveled mess at the king's feet. When he first saw her, he thought she was a wild Level E that wanted a merciful death, and he was about to remove her from the king's presence until she said, "I don't want to break his wish." She said with blood-red eyes. "Let's try to be happy." Then she fainted at his feet.

The king ordered Rio to take care of her and nurse her back to health. Rio had grudgingly done so – after all, he was a butler not a nurse – but after spending time with the broken woman, Rio had a soft pity for her. So young and so loss. However, when she had been completely healed, she was a radically different person.

She always wore heavy but artistic makeup, and she would perfume herself so heavily that sometimes it seemed like she was trying to mask her own unique scent. She became a mirrored copy of her king, in terms of temperance and dreams. But she always held a hint of sadness around her. Even when she was with her children, she would smile, laugh, and play, but it never really seemed to reach her eyes.

Nevertheless, the King should be grateful he had her for a Queen. She balanced the court well. Even when the King went too far in his cruelty, the Queen was able to smooth out his razor-sharp actions and keep a fatigued peace within the court.

But the Queen was now gone.

Rio didn't expect that event to happen at all. She'd seemed so loyal to him. But that battle one year ago was so terrible. It was like the woman had realized a hidden truth and had been awoken from a sleeping spell. Her wrath had been appalling and Rio would have feared for his life if she had not focused it on the person he'd least expected it – the King himself.

Rio couldn't help but think the King deserved it somehow.

Nevertheless, he was a servant to the King, and he was always loyal to the end, but even Rio was now questioning whether or not he should continue with his well-tracked record of loyalty. After a year of the Queen's absence, the King had gotten himself a Doll. And not just any Doll, but the Number One Doll himself, Silver Night.

No one knew it, but Rio hated the entire practice of keeping Dolls. He'd been one of the secret founders of the Doll Liberation Association (DLA), and he'd chosen to serve the King because the King was one of the few members of upper society to not have such a thing.

But when Rio saw his King blindly dragging that poor creature and toss him casually to his feet like he was trash, Rio's loyalty to him quickly became one of habit, rather than a true desire.

However, all the rumors he'd heard about Silver Night was true. The man was probably the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and even he'd been tempted from time to time to touch the man inappropriately. It was like the man could summon the deepest of desire to claim him in a person. Rio had made sure his interactions with the man was limited and timed because even he didn't entirely trust himself when he was around that man.

Yet, when the man didn't think someone was watching him, he'd looked so empty and so lonely, that it broke Rio's old heart. At those moments, the man seemed more like a young teen, and it was as if his bright future had been viciously stolen from him. Which, coming to think about it, probably was.

Rio sighed. His life had become so complicated. He would leave the water and pills near the King's private reading area in his bedroom and retire for tonight. However, he should check on the man before he –

The door of the King's freshly used concubine chambers was slammed open. Bloody and wild-eyed, his King tumbled out of the room, and Rio dropped the tray in his hands. Rio looked at his King in shock.

"What is the matter, my lord?" He immediately asked. Rio sniffed the air. The scent of the blood didn't belong to the King and seemed to belong to – no...it couldn't be.

His King looked at him with wild-eyed shame, "Fix it." His King barked. "Fix it and make it better. I didn't mean for it to die." Then the King shakily rushed down the hall and turned the right corner.

Still in shocked horror, Rio when into the room and saw the man he had just been thinking about a moment ago. Rio stopped breathing.

By all of darkness, was the young man even still alive?

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Shock **

* * *

Haruka's eyes twitched at the latest news headline from his e-reader.

**IS THE QUEEN HAVING A SECRET AFFAIR WITH KING'S MAIN RIVAL? EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWERS SAY: YES!**

_Last night, the Queen was a ravishing sight - beautifully dark and powerfully alluring. The fashion industry has dearly missed their Queen's unique style that was always on display for major social events. But ever since their unexpected separation, the Queen hasn't been seen on the social scene for an entire year! The world of fashion has deeply mourned!_

_However, at the Annual Winter Ball last night, the Queen's comeback was a sight to behold! It was completely different, and some say the different look was inspired because she has a new man in her life. And not just any man – the damnably handsome King Maxwell Von Anderson. Yes, you read that right! The Queen of the Far Eastern Vampire Realm may be having a hot and steamy affair with the Vampire King of Europe, himself!_

Haruka threw his e-reader against the wall. Damn those reporters! They didn't dare say a thing when they were there at the Ball last night, but the minute they were safe from immediate retribution, they'll spout such garbage!

Mother had left after three hours into the ball. The blond man, who Haruka now knew to be the Vampire King of Europe, had escorted her out. After he had seen her safely in the limo, Anderson had left with an amused wink but nothing more. Haruka and Juri had followed them and kissed their mother good-bye at the limo. They promised they would return to her in two days, but mother seemed as if she hadn't heard a word they'd said. She looked so angry and so hurt.

Haruka saw father talk with her as she went to get the cake for him and even though the exchange happened in less than two minutes, both parties looked ready for bloodshed. Mother returned and had given him a piece of oatmeal cake and Haruka simply ate it without compliant. She looked like she'd just been smacked in the face, but Haruka knew his father hadn't really done anything to her. Mother had been listless after giving him the cake and had walked back to her throne to reclaim her thoughts. After a while, she acted as if nothing had happened and continued on with the Ball's events.

However, even Haruka felt the various killing intent spikes from his father throughout the event. Everyone had felt it, and that was probably why the party had ended so soon after mother had left.

And then there was Juri.

Juri, brainless and mindless Juri, had acted like all was well in the world. She'd been outside and hadn't seen what had gone down between their parents, but Haruka still wanted to shake some sense into her! When the Ball had obviously come to a close, she had kissed their father a happy good-night kiss on his cheek and bounced her way to her private palace. She'd acted like nothing had happened, and Haruka was sure that stupid sister of his fell asleep without a care in the world.

Haruka hadn't been able to sleep one wink the entire day. He been anxiety about the state of his mother. He'd be edgy about the mental state of his father. He was deeply annoyed at Juri's behavior, and he'd even worried about what the news reports would say about the entire event. At least, he wasn't worrying about the news reports for no reason – they did exactly what he thought they would. Those parasitic jerks!

Haruka rose from his chair and decided to put on his clothes. He was going to get to the bottom of this. His father really needed to be more considerate and humble and as the only other male in this family – it was his job to get his father to see common sense.

* * *

Juri sang as she clapped. "I love blueberry muffins! Blueberry muffins! Blueberry muffins! I love blueberry muffins! Blueberry muffins and I are best friends!" Mika, her personal maid, amusingly smiled.

"Something tells me, you want a blueberry muffin, miss." The middle-aged woman grinned.

Juri pouted. "Actually, I want a pecan muffin, but I haven't made a song for those yet!"

Mika raised her eyebrow. Juri really was a delight to work for, but she was so childlike that Mika would always forget she was, in actuality, a teen girl.

Mika came to wake up the princess tonight. She was such a heavy sleeper, and Mika knew the girl wanted to spend some time with her beloved father before her scheduled plane ride near sunrise. It had taken a Herculean effort, but the girl was dressed and ready to go now. Her favorite pink and brown dress was on, and her long hair was full of curls. Mika was happy to see her hair in a normal black color for once. The young teen would dye her hair every odd shade of the rainbow when it suited her. Mika had to endure shockingly pink to neon green colored hair. The Queen had been surprisingly amused at her daughter's wild fashion sense even when Juri landed on the Worst's Dressed List, time and time again. The only time the Queen had a problem with Juri's unusual hair styling options was when the girl had decided to dye her hair a shockingly silver hue.

When the Queen had seen her, she had fainted on the spot. When she had awoken, the Queen quietly begged for Juri to never dye her hair that particular hair color ever again. Strangely, the willful Juri never had. Mika was somewhat put out at that. Pink, blue, and green hair was fine, but a relatively normal color like silver was a sin?

Honestly, the entire royal family was bonkers!

"I'm going to see daddy!" Juri brightly chirped at Mika. "We can have muffins together in his office!" Before the older woman could say another word, the girl was gone in a flash.

Mika tiredly smiled and decided to start packing up. At least one member of that strange family always smiled.

* * *

Juri sneakily got into her father's palace! Maybe she should become a female ninja! She was going to surprise him with some muffins from her private kitchen, and they could have a quite early evening snack in the garden.

Juri loved seven things: beauty items, her mother, her father, her brother, cupcakes, pictures, and cute boys! But she adorned her father the most! He gave her everything she wanted and always smiled at her even when she made big mistakes.

Soon, Juri arrived to her father's personal study and swung open the door in her excitement.

He wasn't there!

Pouting, Juri pondered where he could be. Maybe he was still sleeping? Juri absentmindedly walked towards her father's bedroom chamber. It was odd for her father not to be awake at this time. He was always the first person to be awake in the evenings. Perhaps he had drunk too much last night? When she kissed him, he'd didn't seem too happy at all, but his eyes did soften a bit when she had done that.

Papa really was upset with the whole fight with mama, huh? Juri knew people said the worst of things about her father, but she just didn't see it. Her father was always so kind and giving to her, and she couldn't really see the mean man people painted him as when they thought she couldn't hear. Whatever people said, Juri knew the truth!

Papa was a desperately lonely and needy person.

He might not express himself well, but that's what Juri believed with her whole heart. Her kind father was lonely, and he wanted something desperately. She didn't know or understand what that something was, but she would find it for him one day.

"Princess Juri? What in the world are you doing here?" Her father's personal Butler mumbled out. "You need to go back to your palace, your highness."

"I want to see Papa." Juri pouted at him. She lifted up her basket of muffins. "I brought these for him to cheer him up!"

She wasn't sure, but Butler Rio looked very angry. Juri didn't think the anger was because of her though. "Princess, could you please return to your palace? Your father isn't feeling too well at the moment, and he may not be ready to see you until later on in the night. So, can you please go now?"

Juri wanted to immediately refuse, but a spike of cunning hit her, and she nodded her head. She started to retrace her steps like she was actually going to do what the Butler had said. However, when she was out of his senses, she had hidden herself and waited until she was sure no one else was there.

When she heard that the Butler was gone, she immediately hurried to her father's bedchamber. If her father was unwell, she wanted to be near him and help him. However, out of the corner of her dark eyes, she saw a slightly opened door that she'd never remembered being opened before in her young life. Curious, she walked over and peaked into the mysterious room.

It was a bedroom. It was a beautiful and plain bedroom, but a bedroom even so.

Juri was about to shut the door because that wasn't really odd. Her palace had six bedrooms, and each had a different theme. In spite of this, before she closed the door, she heard a slight sound of movement from the bed.

Juri's thoughts went wild. Without thinking of the consequences, she slipped into the room and sneaked closer to the bed. When she had gotten close, she dropped her basket of muffins.

The person on the bed looked like an angel.

Juri thought her stomach was suddenly full of butterflies. The man had beautiful long silver hair and had flawlessly marbled skin. His features were so delicate but at the same time so masculine that Juri couldn't really describe it. It was rare – different even. However, he was breathing heavily.

Juri looked at his body and saw numerous claw marks and wounds on his skin. What sort of evil person would harm such a beautiful creature? Juri's rare anger was kindled. Nevertheless, distractedly, she took out her cell phone. Her immediate reaction when seeing cute boys was to take a picture of them! Her brother said it was a creepy habit, but Juri had never heard any complaints from all the boys she had taken pictures of in the past. However, that sleeping angel was clearly not a boy, but a _man_. Juri blushed. She'd never seen such a handsome person before! She definitely wanted to remember him! Without a second thought, she took a picture of this beautiful sleeping man with her camera phone.

To her utter horror, the man seemed to stir at the sound.

Silver Angel Man turned his head towards her and looked at her with sleepy dark-purple eyes.

Juri stopped breathing.

They looked at each other for a moment. "Your face...is _glorious_." The man finally said and he quickly fell back to sleep.

Juri couldn't breathe; her face was so hot she could have sworn an egg could be fried on it. Picking up her muffins and slamming her cell phone back into her dress's pocket, she wildly ran to her room.

Juri had no idea what to think about this.

**To be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading and review! I love all my readers, but my reviewers help me to write a chapter everyday! XD


	10. Chapter 9 Restart

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

What enraged Yuki more than anything else was the fact that Kaname didn't seem the least bit sorry for what he had done. There wasn't a _hint_ of remorse for his actions. There wasn't a _hint_ of shame. And to realize that she had given this monster of a man the little she had left of her broken heart almost drove her to suicide.

She had not known. She had believed in him and trusted him for _so_ long. She was even grateful that he still looked after her, when she'd lost herself.

But it was her _brother_ and _husband_ who had killed the **_man she'd loved_**. It was _his_ actions that made her unknowingly starve and killed the unborn child in her womb that she hadn't known was there. Yuki had lost one of the last thing Zero left to her because of her blind desperation. She didn't notice the signs – she'd just thought – I have to find him. _I have to find him._ **_He always found me, so now it's my turn to find him._**

But because of Kaname, she'd killed one of the very few things she had left of Zero.

A baby.

A baby that could have had his silver hair and purple eyes. A baby that could have had his nose and ears. A baby who could have given her Zero's trademark small smile when he was happy or her cute frown when she was displeased. She could have been comforted and not gone mad those five lost years if that baby had lived.

Sometimes, Yuki would imagine to herself that Zero was alive and was right next to her - talking to her. She would be outside, in a park, at a shopping center, or at a museum, and she would imagine the strange and funny conversations they might have had.

If they were waiting in a line at a supermarket, Yuki could imagine Zero raising a cheeky eyebrow at her and say, "_You know, I think that man in front of us in the green shirt is cheating on his wife with that woman."_

Yuki would act shocked. _"That's terrible – what is the world coming to?"_ Then she would slowly process what he had said. _"Hey! How would you even know that?"_

Zero would teasingly smile at her. _"He has a fresh tan line on his ring finger, but there is no ring."_

_"Oh."_ She would say. _"Why in the world would a man cheat on his wife?"_

_"Because a man can."_ Zero would smirk at her then.

Yuki would mock growl at him. _"If you ever cheated on me, I'll skin you!"_

_"I know. However, I would be too tired to cheat."_ Zero would then smile at her. _"You take up all my time and energy, Yuki."_

Sometimes, she'd imagined he would lay right next to her in bed, and they'll discuss their daily lives together.

_"I just read a wonderful book!"_ Yuki would say.

Zero would roll his eyes. _"The last time you said that it was about that dreadful book Twilight!"_ Then he would mysteriously wiggle his eyebrows. _"However, there is a resemblance between that girl Bella and you."_

_"Hey! I can fight **and** defend myself!"_

_"Sure you can...until I come and save you."_ He would smirk.

Yuki's thoughts would then turn dark. _"You can't save me anymore."_

Illusion Zero would look at her with sad purple eyes and say, _"I'm so sorry, Yuki."_

Yuki pulled herself deepen into her bed and shut the world out. Zero wasn't there to protect her anymore. Once upon a time, a innocent girl loved a silver-haired knight...but her shinning knight was lost to her forever.

And it was her own dark prince who had taken him away.

But that dark prince wasn't even the _slightest bit_ regretful of about his past actions. He even expected her to come back to him, and he thought life would go on as usual.

Yuki would hit him where it hurt.

"Seiren, please come here." Yuki called out. The purple-haired woman came into Yuki's bedroom immediately. Once she had been loyal to Kaname and served him with all her heart. How things changed with time...Seiren was loyal to Yuki now, and only death would stop the woman's service to her.

"Yes, my lady?" Seiren quietly asked.

"Please call Rima Touya. I want her to draft up some legal papers for me."

Seiren blinked. "Rima is a lawyer now, Yuki, but she specializes in divorces."

Yuki looked Seiren hard in the eye. "_I know_, Seiren. That's why I want her. I'm getting a divorce."

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Restart**

* * *

When Silver opened his eyes again, he looked at the ceiling.

So...he was raped.

This was the seven hundred and sixty-fourth time, wasn't it?

Silver raised himself with his elbows and noted the dull pain inside him. Well, if he were to compare from previous experiences, this time it wasn't as bad as the other times. He'll be completely healed by tomorrow night and ready for further action. The rapid blood loss experienced during this event was probably what pushed him closer to death's door plus the major wounding from the various claw marks. He wasn't raped for at least seven years before this event. The unpleasantness of the entire episode was something Silver wasn't willing to experience again.

A brief thought occurred to Silver that such an event to a complete and free person would be downright traumatizing and horrifying. However, for Dolls, this was merely a simple and common occupational hazard. If one wanted to survive in this life, one needed to gather such memories and lock it away in the deepest and darkest part of their minds completely. Otherwise that person wouldn't be able to cope, and his or her life soon end.

Still, Silver tried to process exactly what had happened for this event to transpire. After all, he hadn't expected it – not by a long shot – but now, he would have to deal with this latest twist in the entire game.

Contrary to popular opinion, rape was about power, rather than true sexual pleasure or desire. When a person raped another, it was a power play in order for the villain to reestablish his or hers identify, pride, and ego. This usually happens whe that villain felt a loss of control over something important to them, and the victim was just in the _right_ place at the _wrong_ time. The message and intent of a rape were simple: I am not powerless, _if I can hurt and control you._

However, victims, in general, tend not to see it that way. He remembered some of the words other Dolls who had just experienced this new type of horror would cry to themselves and say things like: What did _I_ do to deserve that? What did _I_ do wrong? Is something wrong with _me_ for that person to want to do that?

Those were useless and stupid questions really.

Rape was about power, and what better way to express your power then subjecting a lesser valued member of society to a torture you could never be harmed or punished for? Dolls were the lowest of the low in vampire society. If a vampire of any level had tried such a thing against his or hers equal, the consequence was had been huge. But against a Doll? Nonsense, many would say, aren't sex and pleasure the reason why they existed in the first place? Why would such a creature even think to say no? In the minds of many, a Doll couldn't be raped. In fact, it simply wasn't _possible_ to rape them.

Nevertheless, being logically about this, didn't really help the feeling of violation a completed person felt. He'd watch dozens of Dolls kill themselves after experiencing such events. Silver mildly wondered if he would try to kill himself in the future as well, once he became a complete person and had the normal emotional response that accompanied such actions.

However, for a _king_ to want to do such a common and base act, Silver needed to reassess the entire situation and reformulate his plans. Silver was mildly curious as to what set his master king off and thus he tried to remember his strange drunken rambles during the event.

_"I'm the second choice."_ Second choice in what? Was there some sort of competition that his master was engaged in?

_"Why am I the second choice? I've always loved her!"_ Ah. A quarrel over a woman. Well, great wars have been started over such things in the past. _"How could I be the second choice? I took care of her!"_ What type of woman was she to inspire such a negative reaction? His master was married, so perhaps the woman was his wife? That didn't make much sense at all. Shouldn't a wife return a husband's love if she agreed to marry him? If that was the case, then perhaps there was trouble in the marriage bed?

Silver hadn't left his new room since he arrived here and the only contact he had of the outside world involved three people – the Butler Rio, his new master, and that strange girl whose face triggered the memory of a dream within a dream. Clearly, things were transpiring that he had no idea how to react to. If the feud was between his master and his wife – how could he take advantage of such a situation? Silver needed to get more information about his environment. Ignorance in this new circle of the world was apparently very deadly. His master was a king and a pure-blood. He could have easily killed Silver last night and not a person would have cared. Silver had no allies, information, weapons, or understanding in this new dark palace.

_"How could you be the first choice? How? A cursed vampire hunter. A lowly Level D. A fool and a wretch."_ Now these words puzzled him and make Silver even more confused and worried. He was not a vampire hunter. He was a Doll. His new master had to have understood that, or he wouldn't have kept Silver in the first place. Thus, Silver could only come to the conclusion that something about himself reminded his master of this vampire hunter he obviously greatly disliked.

Isn't that a troubling thought?

Silver didn't know what he could do about this sudden unexpected piece of information. If Silver reminded his new master of this rival enemy for a woman his master desperately desired, how exactly was he supposed to manage it?

_"Now you are nothing more than a whore. A used and willing whore is what you are, and I'm the second choice? A King the second choice?"_ Well, isn't a willing whore what the Doll industry condition society to think them as? That idea wasn't new at all. However, the real problem, for Silver at least, was that his master seemed to be transferring his immense dislike for this vampire hunter onto Silver himself. That was a problem he needed to rectify immediately. Silver had to make himself entire distinct and different in the mind of his new master so that this transference of ill regard he had for the hunter wasn't placed on himself.

_"Your blood tastes like a virgin, Kiryu."_ And who in the world was Kiryu? Was it the vampire hunter's name? "_No wonder your previous johns desired you so much."_ Well, that was a typically statement. _"Kiryu, the whore, who tastes like a pure virgin."_ Well, Silver _did_ take much care with his blood. During the second decade of his enslavement, one of his masters had been an odd-ball scientist. After Silver had managed to survive the torture of his odd experiments and had successfully captured the evil man's heart, Silver had created a potion that helped his blood mimic virgin blood. After he had successfully seduced the man's rival, he'd had that master murdered and had an easier captivity with that other scientist until his ownership was transferred again. Coming to think about it, he would need to create that tonic very soon, his tri-monthly prescription date was coming up.

On the other hand, another thought occurred to Silver. He wasn't entirely sure but he strongly believed the despised vampire hunter's name was Kiryu.

Kiryu.

Something inside Silver was triggered. Kiryu. _Kiryu_. **Kiryu**. That name sounded very familiar. He'd obviously heard of it before. Was it in one of the books he'd read over the years? Kiryu. _Kiryu_. **Kiryu**.

"..._**Kiryu**_!" Suddenly, the memory of a bright female voice whispering in his ear shocked him.

Almost immediately, Silver felt the beginnings of a terrible headache and a sharp pain in his chest. He held his breath for a moment and fell back on the bed. A feeling of nausea over took him and he became very distressed. After the odd moment of sickness passed, Silver opened his eyes and wondered what had trigger the sudden odd sickness. It wasn't the memory of the that vile man, or the potion. That sickness was triggered by the name of that vampire hunter! The name of that vampire hunter was...what again?

Silver pulled at his memories again and couldn't remember the name he _just_ remembered. Impossible. He'd trained his memory to remember anything and everything that surrounded him. How could he have just forgotten that name? He only felt this way when his true self stole away a key to his identity whenever he stumbled upon something that reminded him of something he couldn't place.

Suddenly enraged, Silver realized that had just happened again.

This always happened whenever he just found a clue, even a small simple clue, about his true nature! His true self would just delete away the moment/clue. A feeling of pain over took him then. It wasn't fair! It wasn't right that _he_ was his _own_ worst enemy!

Pressing his lips together tightly, Silver vowed to himself, that he would find a clue that would be the very key to unlocking his true self. It would be a key so overwhelming, so brilliant, and so wondrous that his true self wouldn't be able to disregard and hide that key ever again.

Irritated beyond belief, Silver tried to distance himself from his darkly turning thoughts. There was a time and place for everything after all.

So, after this little analysis, what has Silver Night learned and could conclude from this entire event?

His master, who was a vampire pure-blood king, was fighting a battle over his wife with a vampire hunter. Reality surely was stranger than fiction. What would a vampire queen being doing with a vampire hunter in the first place? Could she possibly be plotting her husband's murder? Very, very curious. Perhaps it would be in Silver's best interest to form an alliance with that woman? If he did, he could get revenge for what had occurred last night.

Ah, possibilities.

Besides that, he, Silver himself, reminded the king of this rival vampire hunter? Well, that surely couldn't be for the time being. He had to distance himself as entirely different from that vampire hunter as much as possible. It really wouldn't do for Silver to be accidentally killed, if his current master went on another enraged tirade because of the man.

A plan formed, and a cold smile curled around Silver's lips.

Yes, he knew exactly what to do to make himself completely distinct and different in the mind of his new master. He formed a plan that could be based on either his master's guilty or shame. Whatever emotional response was triggered in his master because of such an action didn't really matter to Silver – Silver would deal with it and survive.

He decided to reset his plan of action.

He would take his master's guilt and shame and built him a mental prison of his own sin. Silver would whisper the lies his master wanted to believe and trap him forever.

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N: **Hey, my lovely readers! I've got an important question to ask you guys! I usually update this story around midnight US PST. However, I won't be able to do that now because of certain life changes I'm experiencing. However, I want to updated at a convenience time for all my lovely readers and reviewers. So, perhaps, when you leave a review, please include the time you access and read this story! With that information, I'll try to figure out the best updating time for all! Anyway, thanks for reading!** And please review! :)  
**


	11. Chapter 10 Poison, Part I

**Sliver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**100 Years Ago**

Kaname mockingly stared down at his despicable uncle, and he took great delight in seeing his pain. The spell that Yuki had weaved had worked perfectly. She was breathing heavily and completely drained of her energy, but Kiryu was supporting her with his own hands.

Kaname focused his entire attention on his uncle. Rido Kuran could no longer use his power and was little more than a human cripple. Kaname took immense pleasure in slowly shredding the man into bloody pieces.

Rido was little more than a corpse and what gave Kaname the best feeling of sadistic happiness was knowing that Rido Kuran knew he was dying, and that Kaname was the reason for it. The man had killed his parents and tried to steal his birthright. He had caused so much trouble and woe for Kaname and Kaname was _so _happy to see his angst at his undeniable loss.

"You have loss, my dear uncle." Kaname said as his stepped on the man's hand and crushed it. He had successfully taken the body of a foreign pure-blood, so his cousin was physically safe. Too bad that the boy was now going to lose another parent.

"Ha." Rido spat. "Don't think that it will end this way, my lovely nephew."

"Oh." Kaname grabbed him by his throat and lifted him in the air. He saw his uncle turn blue and Kaname toss him to the ground like he was mere trash. He played with Rido like a vicious cat would play with his terrified so-to-be-dead dinner. "How exactly will it end then?"

The bloody man wheezed but strangely he had a smile upon his lips."You and I are so alike, nephew." He spat out bright-red blood on the snow-covered ground. "We both take and take and take until one day we lose everything we hold dear. You will end up like me – no - you will end up even _worst_. "

Ah, the blather of a loser. Kaname simply kicked his face in.

Despite his broken teeth littered the snowy ground; Rido continued to smile. "Why don't I do you a favor and help you along your path of destruction?" Immediately, Rido held up his hand and summoned all the remains of his dark energy. His target was Kaname and Kaname was taken aback. The amount of power in the attack wasn't something he had expected. Kaname summoned a shield to protect himself. But laughing, Rido then pointed his deadly power at Yuki.

"NO!" Kaname yelled. He watched in helpless horror as Yuki tried to defend herself from the attack. She couldn't. She didn't have enough energy because she had barely awakened her vampire powers and hadn't truly gotten use to them yet.

Yuki screamed.

In an instant, Zero Kiryu was before her. He covered her body with his own. The dark light was blinding.

Kiryu fell to the snowy earth, and Yuki stopped screaming.

Kaname turned to Rido with a nasty snarl. Without wasting a second, he ripped out the bastard's heart. Rido wheezed and gurgled with his blood, but he continued with his bloody smile. "From hell Kaname, I will laugh as you _poison_ all your dreams."

* * *

**Chapter 10: Poison, Part I**

* * *

**Present**

Kaname had decided that he wouldn't drink for the rest of the week. No, let's make that the rest of the month. No, let's go even further – he wouldn't drink for the rest of the entire year.

He didn't even know what to do.

Haruka and Juri were gone. Haruka had tried to talk with him privately, but Kaname wasn't in the mood to listen to the boy's petty complaints right now. He'd order the boy out of his presence, as soon as he saw that familiar rebellious look on his face. Haruka had tried to argue, but one look from Kaname and the boy understood his place.

Juri was a different case, however. She had looked for him to give him muffins, but she seemed so red face and nervous around him. Kaname wasn't sure what to make of her strange (well, strange for her) behavior, but he listened to her babble on and on because it was a calming sound to his wired nerves and steadily growing indignity. They had left at sunrise that very same night and Kaname was so sorry to see them go because now he had to think about what he had done.

He didn't want to.

After they had left, Rio had informed Kaname about the status of Kiryu's health. The Butler had informed Kaname the news he wanted to hear the most – the boy would live.

Kiryu would live.

And, the old Butler added, he was healing remarkably fast. However, Rio seemed somewhat disturbed by the rapid rate of the boy's healing ability.

Nevertheless, the sheer gratefulness at hearing such words shockingly overwhelmed him. But as soon as that grateful wave was passed, a ball of dishonor logged itself in his stomach. He was a king. Kings don't need to act in such a way, but he had. Kaname felt his ego be subdued a bit. Who knew that alcohol could turn him into such a savage creature? Kaname decided to cast all the blame on the drink. After all, the alcohol had been a bit too strong and thus as a punishment to himself he would relax his usage of the substance. Kaname knew he was a good person; therefore, it was drink's fault for changing him into such an unrecognizable creature.

All in all, Kiryu would live. However, what did that mean to him?

Well, to be practical about it, his plan to use the boy as a bait for Yuki was still possible. He hadn't told her that he had the boy when he had briefly spoken to her at the Annual Winter Ball. So, that card was still possible to play. Once Yuki found out he was still alive, she would come back to the palace, and life would go on.

Still, Kaname wasn't exactly sure how to approach and create such a plan. In fact, Kaname's mind seemed to refuse to focus on it. It only seemed to focus on foggy memories of painful screams and bloody skin.

Kaname refused to feel too guilty. After all, it wasn't his fault. If Yuki hadn't upset him, he wouldn't have drunk that much, and thus he wouldn't have acted that way with Kiryu. Besides, Kiryu was already healing, and if he was healing so quickly, Kaname knew he couldn't have injured the boy _that badly_ during that minor outburst event.

Therefore, Kaname didn't really feel too much shame over the entire event. After all, it wasn't his fault. Things just went out of control for a bit, but soon everything would return to its place.

* * *

**A Week Later**

Kaname had decided that now was the time to visit Kiryu. His Butler had reported to him that the boy was completely healed two days ago. However, Kaname had been busy, and thus he hadn't had the time to really see the boy for himself. In spite of this, Kaname's curiosity and confused feelings got the best of him. For some odd reason, he wanted to visit the boy and see his face.

Yet, he stood before the door and hesitated to knock. How would Kiryu look at him? Would he look at him with rage? Would there by fear in his eyes? Kaname, for some reason, didn't really want to know the answer to his questions. If Kaname remembered the boy's personality well, Kiryu would probably hate and despise him even more now despite the fact that it really wasn't Kaname's fault. It had been the alcohol. It had been Yuki's words. Hell, it was even Maxwell's actions. However, Kaname suspected that the boy wouldn't see it that way.

Kaname decided against the visit. He should just leave. It wasn't as if there was any real reason he needed to see him now anyway. Intending to leave immediately, Kaname turned around.

Unexpectedly, the door to Kiryu's room opened.

Kaname froze. He was instantly unsure of what to do. He expected to hear Kiryu's sharp rebuke and angry harangue. He even expected Kiryu to try to harm him or at the very least to curse at him with contempt. Therefore, he wasn't expecting the following words.

"Is something troubling you, my master?" A low and silky voice softly inquired behind him.

Kaname whipped his head around. There was no anger in that voice. No disgust. No hatred. Taken by complete surprised, Kaname looked at Kiryu's eyes.

Happiness. Joy. Excitement. Those words were the only words that could describe that man's glaze at him. Kaname's mind whirled, and he was frozen to the spot. Silver's looked at him with warmth and joy. "Please, come in, my master." He said, as he continued to look at him with those irreverence accepting eyes. "I've been wanting to see you for such a long time." He moved slightly to the side of the door as if he were happily welcoming Kaname into his home.

Like he was under a spell, Kaname walked in - and he completely lost his breathe.

He stepped into a dream.

The entire bedroom looked so different. Before, the bedroom had looked like any typical bedroom with the usual furniture and arrangements. However, now, his senses were overwhelmed with wonder. Every aspect of the room dazzled the eye, and every facet of the space delighted his imagination.

The walls had been painted a dark crimson hue, and the high-polished wooden floors were covered in numerous rich Persian carpets. In the private sitting area sat two pale white chaise lounges in front of a mildly burning ornate golden fireplace. A beautifully crafted wooden table with golden trimmings sat between the lounges, and on top of it was a golden chess set and violin.

Various gold silk tapestries and glistening small chandeliers decorated the ceiling and the upper parts of the room. There were marble stately busts, brilliant golden-silver mirrors, and crystals filled with various oils and exotic scents. There was a painting of two tigers – a white and a black - and a breathtaking scenic painting of an ancient Japanese mountain site. Everything in the room seemed to have been carefully selected to astonish the eye and flood the senses. Kaname didn't know what to admire first in the room, and his curiosity and fascination about the unexpected change overwhelmed him.

But then his eyes land on the main feature of the room - the bed.

And it was glorious.

It was a ridiculous large cherry wood canopy bed. On each of its various beams hung golden curtains, which lightly drift towards luxury Persian rugs. The bed was thickly layered with silk and satin black bed sheets that Kaname's skin craved to feel. An embroidered velvet crimson duvet was pulled halfway down the bed and there were numerous pillows of various shapes and sizes.

_Where am I?_ Kaname dazedly thought to himself. _I feel like I've stepped into a deeply desired dream._ His mind felt fuzzy, and he closed his eyes to take in a deep breathe to center himself. The windows were open and Kaname could smell the fresh nighttime winter air, but it also carried with it the scent of spiced apples and calming lavender.

"Do you like this place, my master?" A low voice whispered softly in his ears. Kaname quickly turned towards that voice and was captured by intense heavy-lidded amethyst orbs.

The answer fell from his lips. "This place is like a dream." He whispered.

That man before him smiled, and Kaname felt his heart melt. This person looked at him with such kindness and tender care that Kaname was confounded. "But this is reality, my king, and it will be so all the days of your life."

Immediately, Kaname felt his conscience awaken. He had hurt this person. He had hurt this person in the vilest of ways. He suddenly wanted to explain himself.

"What had happened that night-" Kaname started to say, but he was interrupted. He watched in shock as Silver kneeled before him. The movement was so smooth that his long silver hair seemed to float around him. Kaname could only watch as the man reach out towards him, grab Kaname's right hand, and pulled his hand towards his ruby lips.

The man kissed his hand. A feeling of pleasure raced through his body. " My master, you were upset. You couldn't have stopped what had happened. I understand." The beguiling creature said to him as he continued to kiss his hand.

Kaname fell upon his knees. "How can you understand? How can you accept?" That was impossible. Had it been him, he would have _never_ -

"You are my master. I will accept and understand every aspect that is you. Everything you are - I will accept and understand because the sole purpose of my existence is to create and encourage your total pleasure and true happiness." Kiryu said. No, not Kiryu. This person could never have been Kiryu.

This person was...this person was...

"I, Silver Night, belong completely to you, my master." Silver Night's eyes suddenly came alive. His purple orbs burned with flames of hot desire and true longing. Kaname mind and body felt engulfed by the flame. "I will always be with you until the end of your days."

Kaname looked into Silver's dark amethyst eyes and instantly believed everything he had said.

"What does your heart desire, my master?" Silver's dark velvety voice asked him.

Kaname had heard him asked this very same question three times before. The first time was when he had just discovered him. The second time was the night before the ball. The third time was the night he wanted to erase from his mind forever. He wanted that memory gone and to be forgotten for eternity.

Thus, Kaname decided that now was the time to finally answer that question.

"What does your heart desire, my master?" Silver repeated again slowly.

Yet, Kaname Kuran could only say three small words. "Give me peace."

Silver lips curled into a mysterious smile. "As you wish, my master."

**To be Continued**

* * *

**A/N**: Ah...next chapter has a lemon or at least my very first attempt at one... (eye twitch). Thanks for reading and please remember to review!


	12. Chapter 11 Poison, Part II

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**110 Years Ago**

A 10-year-old Zero Kiryu frowned at his vampire hunter instructor. Toga Yagari raised his eyebrow at his young student. Little Zero cocked his head to the side and pouted. "I think learning about poisons is a waste of time, teacher. It's not like I can kill a vampire by inviting them over for tea."

Toga smirked. "There are many different types of poisons, kid. Not just physical ones."

Little Zero looked at his teacher with young skepticism. "In the Hunter's Encyclopedia, it defines a poison as 'a substance that when introduced by a living organism will cause death or injury'. How can a poison not be physical then? That doesn't make sense, teacher."

Toga's eyes twitched. Of all the brats he had to get - he got a little Einstein.

"Look brat," Toga began. "Poisons can be physical, but there are also mental, social, and emotional poisons. People aren't just their bodies and vampires, while being the lowest level of a 'person', aren't just bodies as well. While vampires can be poisoned physically, it is better to poison them mentally and emotionally."

"How could you poison a vampire mentally?" Little Zero curiously asked.

"Create in them a fear of you." Toga rapidly answered. "Fear causes a person to lose sight of reality and cause them to make bad decisions, thus it makes them easier targets."

"Well, shouldn't vampire hunters scare vampires _already_?" Little Zero asked confused. "Are there other ways to poison a vampire emotionally?"

Toga knew of a few ways, but that was not appropriate for a young brat to learn about right now. "There are, but you're too young to understand those things, kid."

Little Zero frowned. He hated not getting answers to his questions.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Poison, Part II**

* * *

**Present**

"What does your heart desire, my master?" Silver Night repeated again slowly.

Kaname Kuran could only say three small words. "Give me peace."

Silver lips curled into a mysterious smile. "As you wish, my master."

And time became sluggish.

All of Kaname's physical senses- sight, smell, hearing, feeling, and taste - came alive and focused on the being before him at that very moment.

Kiryu...no...this creature was not Kiryu. Kiryu would never have looked at him this way. The person had dark amethyst orbs that seemed to burn into his soul and consumed his mind with thoughts only of him. This person could never have been Zero Kiryu.

This person was called Silver Night.

Kaname grabbed Silver's right facial cheek with the palm of his right hand. He pulled his face closer to his as if trying to unlock a secret hidden in his mind's eye. Silver's wine eyes met his feverishly and had a subtle gray hue that burned him with a craving for things Kaname couldn't yet understand but equally yearned for. Silver leaned into his touch and closed his eyes. His silky hands slowly began to explore Kaname's body and Kaname's skin started to grow warmer and warmer as each light touch left a feeling of fire in their wake. Little droplets of sweat started to form at the base of Kaname's neck as an internal flash of heat shot and zinged throughout his body and raced to an area hidden underneath his belt.

Silver bended closer into Kaname and placed his soft crimson lips against his neck. Kaname's nose was instantly assaulted by the scent of roses and sandalwood. Kaname immediately thought Silver was going to bite him, but instead Silver gave him a long wet lick up his neck and towards his ear. The sensation caused Kaname to shiver unexpectedly. Silver's hands continued their agonizingly slow exploration of his chest, and each pass of his touch sent arrows of intense desire to his lower half. Suddenly, Kaname's expensive designer dress shirt had become an evil enemy to him because it seemingly separated the contact between their skin.

Silver enigmatically whispered into his ear. "My king, may I fully please you?" His voice was thick, heated, and dark. He nibbled lightly on Kaname's ear lobe, and Kaname let out a surprised gasp. He clung tighter to Silver as the man continued his tongue's assault on his exposed throat. He licked his way down his neck and across his throat's Adam's apple. Kaname could only groan as he felt Silver's long smooth fingers inched down his dress shirt and effortlessly unbutton each button of his expensive shirt. As each button was removed, Silver started to kiss his way down Kaname's smooth chest. The new trail of his kisses started to descend lower and lower.

Abruptly, winter's icy wind decided to come into the room at that very moment. The cold breeze whipped against Silver's exposed bend back, and he let out an astonished shudder as he lend in closer to Kaname's warmth.

Entranced by the delightful sound and the sudden warmth of a downy body, Kaname felt the sliding of Sliver's sleek long hair curl and warp itself around Kaname's upper body. The intoxicating scent of roses and sandalwood consumed him once more. Kaname shivered as he felt one of Silver's velvety silver strands slid down his arm and off of his right shoulder. But soon, Silver had decided to resume with his kisses, and he went down Kaname's body further and further. His trail of heated kisses went down Kaname's chest. They continued down his abdomen and Kaname's excitement roared. With a gracefulness that seemed so natural, Silver unbuckled his belt and zipped open Kaname's dress pants.

However, with the weight of Silver on top of him, Kaname unexpectedly felt backwards on the bed. Only his elbows supported him, but his open and free shirt had slipped over his shoulders and trapped his arms. Annoyed, Kaname merciless ripped off the shirt and threw it somewhere on the floor. His feet dangled slightly from the bed's height.

But Silver did not want to be separated from his skin. He followed Kaname's fall and laid one knee against the outside of his thigh. Without pausing a second, he continued with his kisses that were making their path towards Kaname's hip bone and Kaname's scenes started to become haywire and frenzied. A creature that had been sleeping awoken inside of him. It had only been summoned inside Kaname only once before. The internal creature growled and groaned. It hissed, and it murmured. It's words could not be understood or appreciated, but Kaname could summarize its true intent.

**Claim.**

It wanted him to _claim_.

Despite the cold air, Kaname's body was burning with a pleasurable inferno. He started to heavily pant as he dug his hands against the cool black silk sheets in Silver' bed. The aroused heat of his blood rushed towards his skin and manhood.

Kaname's strict and disciplined mind fell away as his strong animalistic instincts took over. His dark natural instincts smiled as it unleashed its vengeance for always being imprisoned by his rationality and logic. Kaname felt every burning touch of Silver's expert fingers. Kaname felt every hot breathe of Silver's against his now sweating skin. His black dress pants easily slipped off his legs and were kicked away by his feet. Now, the only article of clothing he possessed was his silk black boxer briefs. He found the thing extremely offensive.

Kaname felt Silver stop his kissing descent to his groin, and Kaname warningly groaned his severe disapproval. Silver laughed – the sound was like rich music to Kaname's ears - and without further warning, Silver slipped his hand under the band of his underwear and gave his proud erection a gentle squeeze. An abrupt excitement clawed into Kaname, but Silver suddenly let go.

Kaname hissed. "You're a damn tease." And he reached up and grabbed the man's bicep roughly to pull him down.

Silver laid on top on him – surrounding him with a delicious heat - but Kaname was deeply annoyed that the man still had on the majority of his clothes.

Silver pulled himself up and whispered into Kaname's ear. "And you're quite big, my lord." Silver velvety dark voice replied. Kaname's ego smirked its approval of his words. "How in the world are you going to fit inside me, hmm?"

Silver reached under the closest black pillow and pulled out a small glass container full of precious oil. With a unusual flair of opening the container with one snow-white hand, Silver drenched his hand in the liquid substance and then warped his soft fingers around Kaname's unleashed erection. The musky-scented oil was leisurely massaged onto Kaname's large member, and Kaname surrendered to the deliciously aching and agonizing pleasant sensations. Kaname freely let out the gasps and groans of his current pleasure as Silver slowly moved his hand up and down – up and down – up and down – his length until Kaname could hardly remember what breathing felt like.

Then something inside Kaname snapped. **Claim**. He would claim _now_.

He grabbed the man's arm, flipped him over, and held him down. Their positions completely reversed. Kaname looked into the man's darken purple eyes of desire, and his eyes flashed a bright crimson in response. Kaname rumbled as his noticed that the man still had on his clothes and without wasting another thought, he shredded them off immediately of his body, but he was careful not to wound his newly healed moonlight skin.

Silver gave him an unhurriedly thrilled smile. He rocked his now nude hips side to side, and Kaname could feel his lover's passionate erection against his lower stomach. Kaname grabbed Silver's right leg and slipped it under his right knee and he did the same to their other side.

Silver loudly gasped at the sensation of their bodies mingling, blending, twisting, and he grabbed onto Kaname's biceps desperately. The man's hips and buttocks were perfectly positioned for his erection's entrance, but without warning Kaname paused himself. A fuzzy memory of his past sin chose at that moment to assault his mind.

He should not be doing this, but he did not want to stop. Yet he half-remembered the painful cries of the person under him as he first forced his entry into this hidden place. Kaname suddenly didn't want that event to ever be repeated again.

"Master, what exactly are you waiting for?" An aggravated and distraughtly needy panting voice snapped.

Shocked, Kaname turned to face those burning amethyst orbs and found himself answering truthfully. "I don't want to hurt you again."

Silver lifted up his hips and coiled one of his legs around Kaname's hip bring him excruciatingly closer. "You can never hurt me, my master." He panted with desperate yearning. "I am yours to do as you will." Kaname felt the man's body shuddered with desire. " Your hands, your mouth, everything you are - I want. No." Silver looked him in the eyes then. The intensity of his illicit craving crashed into Kaname like a ferocious cyclone. "No... I don't just want..._**I need**_."

The spell of his hesitation was broken.

Kaname needed no further words. He glided himself inside him and was consumed with a heavenly and hellish all-consuming heat. Nothing mattered at this moment, and Kaname lost himself to the world of forbidden pleasure.

* * *

Silver heavily panted as he felt his master thrust deeply into him.

The first time the man had done this, it had felt like a jagged rusted blade ripping into his raw sensitive flesh. However, now, his master slid inside him like a well-oiled blade inside a new and well-made sheath. The feeling of being filled with his master's rock-hard manhood forced him to grasp aloud. His master pulled him up and arranged him in a seating position on his lap. Silver's long legs wrapped around his master's hips as he was impaled once more.

_You have just been poisoned, my master._ Silver breathlessly thought in the heat of his mind.

Silver slightly encircled his arms around his master's head and gripped some of his medium length black hair tightly. He felt the man forcefully grip the sides of his stomach, and he pulled Silver's body down further until Silver's warm tight entrance re-consumed his entire length. Silver dropped his head back and gave out a shaky cry of pure pleasure.

_You have just been poisoned by my false and diseased love._

Silver's hair was pulled down, and he allowed the momentum to force him on his back again. He felt his master withdraw from him, and he whimpered. Some of his long silver hair was wrapped slight round his master's neck.

_My poisonous love will consume you. It will slither through your skin. It will infect your blood. It will contaminate your very bones_.

He suddenly felt the caged heated weight of his master over him on all fours. One of his hands clenched the right side of Silver's hips and pulled him up to reposition him better on his master's knees. Silver allowed himself to be positioned and he rewrapped his legs around his master's trembling hips. He felt the man's thick manhood drive into him without warning, and Silver started his contributing thrusting - the rhythm of it was only known by his master's hips.

_My poisonous love will taint your mind, defile your soul, and ruin your heart._

Silver croaked out his pleasure and mumbled a thousand and one praises. He knew the man was close to orgasm and now his master's rapidly thrusting hips were become more frenzied and hectic. Silver's open his mouth and using his tongue, he gave his master one quick nip on his neck in order to encourage him further.

_You will cry out in agony. You will beg for release._

Silver open his eyes and felt time freeze for one millisecond. The ceiling over his head was awash in darkness. Cold and hot air danced between the sides of their skin. The bed was wet with their combined sweat under his back. His long hair had warped itself on anything and everything its silk tendrils could latch itself on.

Silver reached up and wrapped his arms around the neck of his master to bring him into a blistering lover's kiss as he felt the man powerfully release inside him.

_But the only cure, my master, is found only in me._

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update. But, this is the first sex scene I've ever written in my entire life. So...I'm not very confidence with it. (I won't even be surprised if you guys write me to tell me the suck-ness of my writing of it at this point.) I tried, so this is what I came up with. (Eye twitch) Review and tell me how I did – if I messed it up, I won't try to write another one as to not ruin the story experience for you guys!

Also, I've reached 100 reviews! XD Who would have thought, huh? I'm somewhat shocked. However, to celebrate, I'll be contacting all my reviewers with a special PM to thank them for their support! Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 12 Connection

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**140 Years Ago**

As he sat on the city's park bench, a young Kaname watched the city's inhabitants pass by him in the light of the setting sun. The dying yellows and reds of the sun painted the city with color, but those colors' warmth didn't reach him on the cold ground below. But people still pass by him. Mothers with their toddlers. Young couples. A rollerblading woman with her pet dog. A man jogging. All of these various and different people would pass by his bench and not say a word to him.

He sat on the bench for hours, even as the sun died and the pale moon steadily made its rounds in the sky.

"Kaname, what in the world are you doing here?" A tired but familiar voice asked him.

Kaname turned to the voice of his father. The man looked tired despite the fact that he just woke up. Kaname closed his eyes and leaned in closer to the cold park bench. "Tell me, father. Why is it that I am always alone?"

The elder Haruka looked down at his young son and sighed. "You are a pureblood, Kaname. We are the rarest and purest breed of vampires. However, the best are always the rarest and the rarest are always alone."

"Will I always be alone?" Kaname lightly asked.

His father ran his hand through his hair. He looked down at his young son with sympathy. While the pureblood was the rarest and most powerful of all life forms on this earth, the curse of the pureblood was to continuously taste the bitterness of loneliness. It was the Achilles' heel of their race – all-consuming loneliness. Despite the fact that purebloods could live for however long they desired, they were still a rare species. No other creature can understand this pureblood curse. To live forever, to be all powerful, to be forever young, to be highly respected – all of these things felt like poor consolidation prizes when love ones die, friends pass away, and times changed.

It was why vampires stay away from humans. While humans were a food source, if a vampire, especially a pureblood, got too attached to one, they would be utterly consumed by the sheer vigor and animation that were mankind. Their lives were so full of adventure, emotion, and fullness. Humans were so passionate and so varied, that a vampire could get swept up in their frenzy and become addicted to their vitality of life. However, their lives were so brief and they would disappear like spring flowers and autumn leaves. The pain of loss and the understanding that one could never prevent it was a fate many of their kind could never deal with.

Nobles vampires and the lower levels of vampires experienced this truth about humans as well, but for purebloods to have relationships with nobles might as well be like a relationship with humans. All things passed away. The only thing that could not change was the purebloods themselves.

Haruka would never voice it out loud, but he believed that was the reason why his brother, Rido, was so vindicated and hateful. Their battle over Juri held a deeper meaning. Juri was their only connection to this life and world, and a true equal love could only involve two people. Only two people could form life's ultimate goal: being part of the Matched Pair and having the Blended Life.

Rido was so bitter because he had lost his chance to access the pureblood cure of loneliness. Haruka knew he would have become the same way had he not won Juri's heart.

But Haruka would not allow his children to be torn apart like his sister, brother, and self were. Haruka wanted to make sure his son and other future children were never alone.

Haruka looked at his son and smiled at him. "You wouldn't be alone little one. You will soon have a sister. And your sister will always stand by your side forever." His young son looked at him with wonder. Despite the fact that he was still too young to truly understand the importance of this statement, Father Haruka knew his words would heal his son's soul. "So, you'll never ever be alone."

* * *

**Chapter 12: Connection**

* * *

**Present**

Butler Rio didn't really understand his feelings. Of course, he was angry at this King for hurting the young man. And, of course, he felt pity for the young man. But most of all, he felt ensnared. He could never disobey or punish his King, and he could never help the young victim escape from his tragic fate. So all of these feelings he had were good and useless. If Rio had any say, he would take the young man, hid him away, and free him. However, when he met the newly awaken man, Rio was currently experiencing the surest feeling of utter puzzlement.

The healing of the boy was disturbing. The swiftness of it was something that Rio hadn't ever seen. It was almost on par with pureblood healing rates. Rio really didn't know what to think of such a thing.

But what confused Rio the most was the young man's entire reaction to the violent episode he had with the king.

When Rio was starting the DLA, he had met many Dolls. Each Doll had a unique story to tell, and each story was different in their horror. Nevertheless, there were two things that all Dolls had in common: 1) a Doll was almost always previously a human and 2) that poor human had somehow gotten the attention, whether good or bad, of a vampire.

Rio liked humans. They were an amusing species, and he didn't like seeing them hurt needlessly. When Rio had understood what his King had done to the young silver-haired man and then had the gall to act like nothing had happened filled Rio with a fury he couldn't really describe. Rio had fully expected the young man to be filled with fear and anguish that were typical of rape victims – vampire or human alike.

Yet, when the man, Silver Night, woke up he had acted like nothing had happened. Oh, he acknowledged that he was hurt, but he never utter a single complaint, grievance, or criticism. He had acted like what had happened was a common occurrence – a simple occupational hazard.

Rio remembered.

_When the young Silver had woken up from his healing sleep, the first question he asked Rio was, "What were the first words my master spoke when he realized what he had done?"_

_Rio couldn't help himself. He bitterly reported the truth. "When I saw the King, he had said: 'Fix it. Fix it and make it better. I didn't mean for it to die'." He angrily frowned._

_The beautiful man was silent for a moment. Rio expected him to cry then. "I see." Silver Night seemed to reflect deeply on those harshly spoken words. "I am an 'it' to him." Then Silver looked at Rio with eyes that seemed to burn his soul. Rio felt drawn in and he couldn't look away. "Can you please help me become a 'he' to him instead?" He asked Rio softly._

Rio did not refuse the soft request. He wanted to make the young man feel better, despite the fact that Rio ultimately knew it was a useless effort. If his king could have done such a cruel thing, he was capable of even more horror. Especially when considering the man's other actions. Rio decided to make life as easy as possible for the poor creature. The man remained Rio so much like his beloved Megumi.

However, Rio was extremely confused by the man's following reactions. After all, Rio didn't think the appropriate response to being raped was to..._**redecorate**_.

Like he was in a dazed dream, Rio had helped Silver Night redecorate and refurbish his entire room. It wasn't really a difficult thing to do. After all, Rio was in charge of the four palaces finances, and his King hardly ever cared about his palace furnishings. In fact, the majority of the palaces finances seem to float to the Queen's and Princess' Palaces – more so the Princess'. The Queen, at least, was the one responsible for created the majority of the royal family's current wealth.

But Silver had redecorated his entire room. He had painted the walls, carefully selected the special furniture pieces, organized the room, and choose a variety of amusements and bedroom items. Rio had watched as the room transformed from a regular and pleasant bedroom to a place that, if he hadn't known better, he would have thought a royal geisha or a beloved courtesan had dwelt there. Even Rio didn't want to leave the place when he first saw it in all its glory. It was like he had been transport to another world, a dream-like world, and he wanted to explore that new place on his own.

When Rio had asked Silver why he had done this, the man only gave him a mysterious smile and an equally mysterious answer.

"I'm simply erasing a bad memory in order to create a new connection." The man said.

* * *

**Three Weeks Later**

"And your majesty, the Queen's palace has finally been reconstructed. The entire cost of the project was – " His subject, Kai, reported.

King Kaname Kuran barely paid attention to what his subject was even saying. While he pretended to be engross in whatever the man was blathering to him about before his black-gold throne in his massive audience chamber, Kaname wished the last meeting of the royal year would quickly come to an end. To be honest, he wanted the man to finish whatever he was saying because he just wanted to go back and spend more time with Silver.

If Kaname had to be honest, he would admit that he had had more orgasms in the past three weeks with Silver, then he had with his wife in the last three decades. To say that Silver was highly skilled was the greatest understatement of all times. Silver knew how to make a man's body beg to be touched, and Kaname hadn't been so fully satisfied in matters of the bedroom for years – no – make that decades.

While Kaname loved being with his wife in such a matter, to compare the two in terms of the bedroom seemed like a great transgression. His wife was like a charming river that flowed with his movements. But Silver was like an all-consuming inferno that scorned and burned and devoured everything in his path. Whenever Kaname had entered Silver's bedroom, he was devoured with such a concentrated force of energy and attention, that he was barely able to stumble his way back to his room at times. The past three weeks had gone by in such a pleasing, frenzy way that Kaname hadn't been in such a well-mannered mood for such a long time. Even his subjects seemed to notice his pleased state and while they didn't know the reason for it, they were happy all the same. Many thought that the time of egg-shell walking would soon pass.

"Therefore, with your permission, we can send a message to communicate to the Queen, that her residence is ready for her to move into at any moment. " The young Kai ended his report.

That statement broke Kaname out of his recollections. His wife's residence was fixed. She could come home at any time now.

For some strange reason, Kaname didn't really want her to come home yet.

If she did, then his time with Silver would be cut short.

Kaname didn't like that.

If she came, she would discover Kiryu's existence, and she would want him for herself again. But Kaname didn't want her to have him if that meant he had to give up Silver.

Mentally, Kaname knew that Zero Kiryu and Silver Night were, in essence, the same person. But now in Kaname's heart, they were two separate and distinct personas.

Zero Kiryu was his past memory. He was a rebellious and rude teen that never gave him the respect Kaname so obviously deserved and he would always look at him with scary and distrustful eyes. Kiryu was the memory of a boy who had almost taken away something so precious to him and Kaname had destroyed the threat that Kiryu was.

Yet, Silver Night was his current reality. A man that fulfilled every unspoken desire of his heart. A man who made his body cry in wave after wave of pleasure and still had him craving for more. Silver looked at him with an addictive tender regard after their intense moments, and he would listen with rapt attention anything Kaname would say. Kaname felt he was in his own dream world whenever he stepped through those doors. Silver's bedroom had become a daily escape for him. A place he could relax from his problems, worries, and woes. A quiet refuge that was only for him because the entire space had everything he liked.

Kaname didn't want to give that up right now.

Kaname shook his head in the negative. "No. Do not send the message. I will tell her myself." Kaname ordered.

Perhaps in a week or two, he would inform her. By that time, Kaname should have had his fill with Silver, and thus he would be more than willing to let the man go or at least be able to share him with her. It was a possibility to him at least. And it was conceivable that Kaname could share, even though Kaname had never shared a thing in his life. He could conceivably share Silver – no, not Silver - _Kiryu_ - with his wife.

Kaname decided to put the entire matter out of his mind for now. Later. He'll figured things out later.

"What's next on the agenda?" Kaname hurriedly asked.

* * *

Silver lazily mused as he stretched himself on his chaise lounge.

People are very interesting creatures. It was what made interacting with people such a difficult thing. The Butler Rio, for example, pitied him. Silver had recognized it when the man had put various healing ointments on his broken skin and bandaged him up. The man pitied him like an elder would pity a loss child. Thus, it was very easy to get this man to agree to help him with an important element of his plan. Pity, like its sister, empathy, can force a person into an action they wouldn't undertake in normal situations. And in a macabre way, this entire episode was a benefit to Silver in three distinct ways.

The first way it helped him was that it trapped the King in an emotional web. All people, whether good or bad, righteous or villainous, kind or cruel – believed, deep down inside themselves that they are a good person. Regardless if such a belief is a self-deception, and even if there is a great amount of evidence to the contrary, every single soul that dwells on Earth, believed themselves to be a good person.

This is why criticism, complaints, or insults do not work in any relationships. No matter what the good or noble intent of the giver was, the receiver of those cutting words will always have a natural, internally negative response. How that person's decide to display their outward response is another matter because response to criticism is as varied and numerous as the sands of the sea. However, when something goes wrong, the first instinct of a normal person would be to criticize and complaint.

Silver was not a normal person. Therefore, he would not complaint about what had happened. In fact, he would turn what had happened into an extremely powerful subconscious weapon. His King wanted to believe he was a good person in the end, thus Silver would make that self-deceptive belief be entirely depended on himself. If the King wanted to continue to believe that he was a good person, he would have to cling to Silver more tightly subconsciously, because Silver was the critical key for him to defend his pride and ego because of his actions.

The second way it helped Silver was that the King would have an unfathomable understanding that he had done something wrong. All living souls understand when they do something wrong, and all living souls recognize the existence of evil. It is a universally understood truth. However, most people don't want to acknowledge to themselves that they do evil things. In the minds of all, evil actions are things that _other_ people do.

However, a normal person will always know, even, deep down inside themselves, when they do something wrong. But a person will always do everything in their power to justify it or erase such an act from their mind. Conversely, such things never go away. The acts of evil, whether small or big, will always haunt a person. And thus, they will always try to erase such an memory of the foul action.

His master would subconsciously cling to him to maintain his self-deception of being a good person who doesn't do bad things. Even while a part of him will always acknowledge that he had done wrong, until his master was willing to face the darkness of his heart, Silver was able to trap him by presenting him with an alternative yet false explanation. Thus, Silver was able to use his master's own sub-consciousness, ego, and pride against himself.

However, the plan would not stop there.

The third way this entire event helped Silver was that it inspired his master to feel a gratefulness to Silver himself, because Silver was the defensive wall against his Master's soul's ugliness. Silver protected him against the conscious acknowledgement of the wrongness of his actions. Therefore, Silver was now a critical element in his master's mind to protect himself from his ghastly self-realization.

Silver would take this gratefulness and create his deadliest and most powerful strategy of all of his seductive tactics.

Ideal Love.

He would give his master a taste of ideal love.

Silver will give his master the illusionary dream his master's unspoken heart and desperate soul deeply desired. Silver would give him the illusion of having a Matched Pair Relationship with him. Silver will falsely make his master believe he could have the Blended Life Dream with him and him alone.

And when it came time for Silver to get rid of him, the man would never see it coming.

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

A/N: Well, the chapter speaks for itself! I'm really happy that the response to last chapter was so positive. I really had no idea what the heck I was doing but it worked out! And the plot thickens! Thanks for reading and please leave a review!

P.S: For my anonymous reviewers, (i.e. RavenTails, Pink Doughnut, darysnape, Guest 1,2,3,4; wintereve, sandandzero, Kanaemexzero fan, Hana Miw, & Celain) I can't response to you guys personally – so, thanks so much for reading and commenting!


	14. Chapter 13 Ideal Lover, Part I

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Rima looked at Yuki sadly. The two brunettes had formed an unexpected bond over the years. Yuki had been instrumental in saving Senri Shiki when they had fought Rido Kuran. In fact, once Rido had been killed, Senri's mother, Rukia Shiki, had returned to the brighter side of sanity.

However, it taken years for Senri to forgive his mother. But after he learned it was his father who had robbed her of herself, Senri's heart could heal. On the other hand, the relationship between mother and son had taken decades to be fix, but at least the woman was Yuki's head of staff now. Rima was so grateful to Yuki for her part in saving the mother of the man Rima had always loved from the moment she met him. Yet it had taken decades for Rima and Senri to finally get together. Senri had sworn off love for ages, and then he started to date Takuma after the always-cheerful blonde's late wife died. However, that relationship didn't last. And Senri was so bitter about that. Rima had decided that now was her chance to win him and unexpectedly, he'd agreed to date her.

She hadn't been so happy in years! But now, her happiness and peace were nearing an end. Rima had just learned she was going to be involved in the greatest scandal of all of vampire history.

Rima briefly wondered if she was going to survive it. Knowing the people involved though – probably not.

"My Queen, I've looked at all the royal's family assets, and currently the Kuran household is worth, if you were to calculate it by American currency, is about 1.63 trillion dollars." Rima was a newly minted lawyer who specialized in divorces. It was a profit field, especially when dealing with humans and lower-level vampires. However, she has worked with some top clients before.

Nevertheless, she had never seen a single couple with that much money and assets before. Talk about wealth! This was going to be a nightmare to divide in the courts.

Not counting the numerous other problems of this great scandal as well.

"That sounds about right." Yuki listlessly said as she looked over some of the files. "When can we start with the proceeding?"

Rima shook her head. She loved a challenge, especially since many people still thought she was just a bimbo because of her previous modeling career. However, this entire thing was going to launch her straight into the public sphere, and Rima knew the repercussions of it would be felt for centuries. Despite her calm persona, Rima was scared.

"There is no precedence for pureblood divorces, my Queen." Rima started. "And vampire divorces aren't as common as human ones either. This entire event is going to be had in the public eye, and it may be very, very bloody - are you going to be alright with that?" Rima looked at her friend.

Yuki looked at her hard, but then a wave a killing sadness over took her. Even though Rima was scared of what this event would hold for their future, seeing the woman who had helped all her dreams come true be so tortured with sadness and anger, forced Rima to become brave herself. She would help this woman now, like this woman had helped and encouraged her in the past.

"I haven't felt so right in a very long time, Rima." Yuki said. "When can we start?"

Rima sighed. Well, if nothing else, this was going to be the stuff for future vampire legends. "I'll serve the papers to Takuma in two weeks." Yuki opened her mouth to argue, but Rima shook her head. "You need some time to get yourself ready for this. This is going to be a tough battle." Then she looked at Yuki with kind eyes. "Plus, you need to tell your children first – they'll be the ones most affected by this."

Yuki's eyes flashed with an unknown emotion. Then she nodded her head. "Okay then. Let's start in two weeks." Suddenly, Yuki's dark eyes widened with a surprised realization. "Isn't that the beginning of the new royal year?" She reflectively asked.

Rima blinked. How could she have forgotten such an event? "Yes. Yes, it is." She shook her head. Not that date! That would just make this entire thing more of nightmare. "Maybe we should-"

"No." Rima jumped at the finality of the Yuki's voice. "That date is perfect." Yuki's mouth curled in a twisted smile. "This entire relationship was a sham to begin with. So, what better day to start our divorce then on our wedding day?"

* * *

**Chapter 13: Ideal Lover, Part I **

* * *

**Present **

Hanabusa Aido looked at the article in his hand, then he looked back at the Kain Couple. "Is this true? She's cheating on Kaname with King Anderson? The nerve of that woman!" He held up his nose.

Ruka wanted to slap him. What a hypocrite! Such a line coming from Hanabusa, of all people, was not what she wanted to hear. Hanabusa lived up to all his playboy tendencies in his youth. He had fathered over 96 children from multiple women over the long years, and his latest child had just been born three months ago. Ruka didn't even know how he'd remembered all their names! And she didn't pity him at all come Christmas and birthdays.

"That's not it at all, Aido." She hissed her annoyance. Honestly, was he this dense? "She probably invited King Anderson because she wanted to hurt Kaname."

"Hurt Kaname?" Hanabusa blinked his baby-blue eyes. "Is she going mad again?" He narrowed his eyes. "How bad is it this time? Is it the 'Five Lost Years" bad?"

Ruka held back her snarl. Hanabusa's bluntness was completely uncalled for, even though he had developed a relative soft spot for their Queen over the years. When Yuki had loss her first love and their unborn child, she had gone insane for five years. She roamed the black and hidden streets of the world like a homeless and diseased dog and fed on the blood of Level E vampires. Seiren and herself had been charged to be her hidden watchers and caretakers by Kaname. When Ruka had first started the task, she had been very disgusted with her behavior. By after months of watching, that disgust tuned to pity, and soon that pity turn into sympathy, and then sympathy turned into heartbreaking understanding.

During the Five Lost Years, some of the worst moments Seiren and Ruka saw of her happen when Yuki when to visit the empty grave of her first true love, Zero Kiryu. In those brief moments, Yuki would talk to the tombstone like it, itself, was the boy she lost and loved. She told the tombstones lies about the life of their lost child. She had even named their lost child "Ichiru", despite the fact that she never knew if that lost child had been a boy or girl.

Ruka could even remember some of the heart-wrenching lies Yuki had told that tombstone.

"_Dear, our son's first words were 'daddy'! Aren't you so proud?" _

"_Zero, you need to tell Ichiru that guns are not playthings! Honestly, that boy takes too much after you!" _

"_Honey! You won't believe what Ichiru said to me today! He said he wanted to go to Disneyland because he wanted to taste Mickey's blood! I told him that wasn't a nice thing to say." _

And more and more of those odd statements when on whenever she visited that grave site.

Seiren and Ruka developed a deep pity for Yuki because of it. They never understood the depths of love that Yuki had felt for that ex-human until it was too late. When Yuki had announced their wedding plans and date, Ruka had mocked her viciously.

Yuki couldn't really have chosen an ex-human over a pureblood could she? Was she that stupid? Yuki may have been a human at one time, but surely she could see the stupidity in loving an ex-human? They may have both been vampires, but Yuki was a pureblood, and she would out-live the ex-human by thousands of years. Any vampire with a shred of common sense understood that the only equal to a pureblood was another pureblood.

Yet Yuki's wedding to the late ex-human ripped through the entire vampire world like a storm. The young couple hadn't really realized it then, but their wedding had been the most talked about item in the gossips spheres at the time. And each telling had gotten more and more juicer and epic now that it was over. Even now, Ruka would hear the recollections of those who had remembered the scandal, and Ruka couldn't even recognize the story at times. The various tales were so outlandish that even Ruka hardly believed that it involved the people she knew.

Ruka sighed. "It is not that bad, I think." She rubbed her head.

"You _think_?" Aido rolled his eyes.

Ruka snapped again. "She isn't crazy. She's clear-headed but extremely furious." She looked at her husband, who was a calm as ever, and she sighed. _Men_. Don't they ever know when something bad is going to happen? "But I think that's even more dangerous. I don't know what she's going to do, but I can't help but think we are on the edge of another great scandal."

* * *

Juri was having a wonderful daydream.

She was about to get her first kiss.

_They were both in a garden full of pretty flowers. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The butterflies danced in the wind. She was dressed like a fairy tale princess and her knight in shining armor was holding her hands gently. _

_He was so handsome! Juri blushed a deep red. Silver Angel Man was holding her hand tightly. His shining purple eyes glowed with love. "Ah, my heart," he said with a slow voice. "I will love you forever and ever." Then he pulled her into a tight hug. _

_Juri's started to cry little tears of happiness. "Oh, Silver Angel Man!" Juri said, "I love you too!" She closed her eyes and expected her true love to kiss her on the lips._

_Then dark clouds began to form and suddenly, a dark lord appeared. He strangely looked like Haruka. "I won't allow this." He said in his usual monotone voice. _

_Juri glared at him. "Don't you dare try to hurt him, Mr. Evil!" _

_The dark lord smirked. He suddenly became a giant who stood over five stories tall! His claw-like hands grabbed her shinning knight and pulled him away from her. "Run away, my love!" Silver Angel Man yelled. "As long as you are safe, I will give my life!" _

_Juri ran after her soul mate. "No! No! Let go of him, Mr. Evil!" She ran as fast as she could but it didn't matter. They got farther and farther away! "Come back, Silver Angel Man!" Juri cried. "Come back!" _

Suddenly, her daydream ended because of a sharp pain on her stomach.

Haruka stared at his sister with a disgusted expression. Juri was ripped out her happy fantasy turned nightmare.

"If you're going to daze off, at least do it quietly." Haruka jauntily said. Their private English language tutor would be showing up at any minute now, but Juri was far from ready to greet her when she came.

Juri blinked her large brown eyes. "Curse you, Mr. Evil!" Haruka stared listlessly at her. "How dare you take Silver Angel Man away from me?"

_Silver Angel Man?_

Haruka rolled his eyes. "Another crush Juri? Don't you go through your crushes too fast?" He shook his head.

Juri bitterly realized she was in reality again. "It's not a _crush_! _He's_ my true love!" She snapped.

"He's your true love. Right." Haruka rolled his eyes again. "Isn't this the fifty 'true love' you've had this year?" He asked sarcastically. "Who is it this time? That latest pop star Marron?"

"Ha!" Juri held her nose in the air. "I'm too grown for mere teen stars!" She huffed. "I'm a grown woman, now. Therefore, I prefer true men!"

Haruka gave her a blank stare. Then he shook his head. "Whatever, sis." Haruka knew he shouldn't be irritated, but he couldn't help it. Everyone in the world knew that in the end, he and she would be engaged and married. Their father pretty much had it settled in his mind that Haruka and Juri would eventually be together forever as wife and husband in the ancient tradition of the Kuran Family. Plus, Haruka knew his father didn't want their pureblood line to end with them either. Despite Juri's fantasies, Haruka knew that they would eventually be together forever and there really wasn't much they could do about it.

After all, they were of age now to be engaged. However, Haruka couldn't really imagine spending his entire life with the ditty nitwit. Even though Haruka had never fallen in love before, Haruka couldn't imagine it happening with his own sister to boot. Nothing about his sister really inspired those kinds of feelings. However, Haruka would just have to grin and bear it. He was the Crown Prince, so he would do what was expected of him.

However, Haruka was somewhat mildly thankful for this strange fight between his parents. If they weren't feuding, he knew he would be engaged to his sister officially by now.

Still, he wished Juri had gotten it through her thick head that she was stuck with him and him with her. He didn't like it when she went on and on with her newest crush. It made him feel like he wasn't good enough for her and other strange feelings like that.

Juri opened up her cell phone and sighed as she looked at her newest phone wallpaper. "He's so dreamy." Her eyes fluttered.

Haruka raised his eyebrows. She still has that freaky hobby? Who takes random pictures of strangers? Isn't it kind of creepy stalker-ish? Haruka had a feeling that the only reason why many people allowed it was because Juri was a pureblood princess.

With an annoyed huff, Haruka reached over to his sister and grabbed the phone away from her.

"HEY!" Juri shouted.

Haruka ignored her and looked at his current 'rival'. He blinked. Then he looked back at the red-faced Juri. He blinked again and return his stared at the phone. He didn't think it was possible for Juri's creepy hobby to reached a new height. Sadly, he was proven wrong. "Did you break into this man's bedroom, Juri? He's sleeping, for darkness's sakes!"

"I'm not a burglar!" Juri hotly defended herself. "He was sleeping at daddy's palace!"

_What?_ Haruka's mind froze. There seemed to be a lot of information in that odd statement of hers. He tried to warp his mind around it to make more sense of it.

"This man was sleeping in a bedroom at father's private palace?" He asked to clarify.

"He was hurt!" Juri rationalized. "He was so injured! I think he was battling an evil monster!" Juri clapped. Her eyes glowed brightly with her imagination. "He was an Angelic Knight from Heaven who was battling a evil monster, but the monster was too powerful and he got injured. Then he fell to Earth and our kind papa found him and decided to heal him!" Juri explained.

Haruka completely ignored her. Juri would always create some half-assed fantasy story to explain something when the mood suited her. Honestly, that girl! Can't she be more serious? What type of explanation was that anyway?

Being the obviously more logically of the two, Haruka stared at the phone picture of the sleeping man.

Wow. This guy was handsome. Haruka had never seen a person before who looked like that. Even though the man was sleeping, the guy seemed to be very charismatic and alluring. He had long silver hair, a perfectly symmetrical face, natural blood-red lips, and heavy silver-black lashes. He looked very picturesque and not-of-this-world. Well, Juri could really pick them.

Suddenly, Haruka frown.

But why was this guy sleeping in father's palace in the first place? He couldn't be a servant. Servants had their own quarters.

Perhaps he was a visiting foreign pureblood? But then didn't mother usually see to those types of guests? And why in father's private palace of all places? Visiting personal usually stayed at grand hotels or the guest mansions within the Kuran Grand Palace Multiplex.

Typically, only close friends and family members stayed in one of the royal family's palaces. His mother usually allowed Auntie Ruka, Aunt Seiren, or Auntie Rima to stay with her when they were at her palace. His sister always had her many friends for sleepovers at her palace. Haruka invited only two people at his, but father never allowed anyone to stay at his place. Not even Uncle Takuma or Uncle Hanabusa! Father always liked his piracy and the only person Haruka could remember staying at his father's palace for any period of time was his own mother.

So, who was this person to have the high right to sleep in father's palace?

Haruka turned to his sister. His mind quickly going over the layout of his father's private palace. That palace was the biggest of all the palaces, but the majority of the rooms were hardly used. Father had his master bedroom, a study, his private meeting room, his grand bathroom, private kitchen, private gym, garden, and dojo. He had three other bedrooms and the never-used concubine rooms -

A light bulb went on in Haruka's head.

Wait...it couldn't be...

"Juri, what wing of the palace was the bedroom you found that man in?" Haruka's mind was spinning. "Was it in the west wing or the east wing?" _Please don't be what I think it is_. Haruka prayed.

Father's bedroom was in the west wing, but the concubine's chamber was in the east wing. If it was a western bedroom, then the man was just a friend. A highly special friend he never met before, but a friend all the same...Haruka had a bad feeling in his stomach.

Juri pouted. "I think..." She cocked her head to the side. Haruka knew Juri was pitifully clueless as to the ramification her next words would have on their lives. "I think it was the east wing."

Haruka crushed Juri's cell phone into tiny bits.

"HEY!" Juri shouted. "I JUST GOT THAT!" She cried. Haruka ignored the clueless idiot. He felt lightheaded and his heart roared at the betrayal.

Did mother _know_? Was _that_ the reason why she was so furious?

Was father cheating on her with another man?

Haruka's heart felt like it was shattering.

**To be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, school and work have started again for me! So, I won't be able to updated as regularly as I use too! Maybe only two to four times a week, I think! Thank you for reading and please leave a review down below!


	15. Chapter 14 Ideal Lover, Part II

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

The first thing that greeted Kaname's ears as he stepped into his private palace was the lone sound of beautiful violin playing. The sound was such an unexpected occurrence that Kaname first wondered if he had come to the right place.

The only person in his family that played music was his daughter, but she wasn't very gifted with instruments. It was a shame, because the violin was one of Kaname's favorite musical instruments, despite his talent for the piano. In all of Kaname's long years, he had never gotten the chance to learn the instrument, but to hear it now, in such an unexpected place and time, inspired a rare curiosity in him.

He followed the sound of_ Sonata in G Minor by Bach_ and suddenly found himself in front of Silver's bedroom. A feeling of intense expectation came upon him, and he opened the door with reckless excitement. The sight that greeted him left him breathless.

He beheld Silver in all his grandeur.

The windows were open. The cool breeze of midnight filled the room and the triplet scents of roses, sandalwood, and honey lavender danced in the air. The bright light of the full moon was high in the ebony sky, and its rays flowed down towards him. The crystal moonlight seemed to flow through his silver long hair and give it the magical feeling of life.

Kaname froze his movement and simply watched him.

Silver's eyes were closed, and he continued his wonderful playing. Snowflakes stared to fall outside like little raindrops and a light night wind slightly moved his long hair. As he continued to play that beautiful song, his hair seemed to waltz around his body, as if it were in complete agreement with the wonderful melody.

Kaname continued to listen. He closed his eyes and allowed the sounds of each note take him far away to a place of dreams. Each note was played in perfect harmony, and each tone knew its natural place. The pitch and sound of the music had a delightful harmony, and the synchronized melody was exceptional. Kaname listened to the music. He listened to the low dips and the high pecks of the song and felt like he was taken away to a happy place.

Suddenly, the music abruptly stopped.

Kaname opened his eyes and rapidly blinked them.

Silver smiled at him gently. "My king, I did not realize that you were here." Silver placed his instruments against the window slit. He walked quickly towards Kaname and bowed. "Please forgive me." Silver said with his usual deep and gratifying tone.

Kaname lightly laughed. "Forgive you for what?" He quickly reached toward Silver's face and pulled him up to a standing position. "It was such a unexpected surprise! The violin is one of my favorite instruments!"

Silver looked at him warmly. "I hope my playing has pleased you."

Kaname pulled him into a tight embrace. His right hand wrapped around Silver's waist, and his left hand gently held Silver's smooth neck. "You always please me, Silver." He whispered merrily in handsome man's ear. "You always please me."

The warmth of the other man's body felt magnificent against his being. Kaname ran his fingers through the man's hair and pulled him in closer. It felt wonderful to have such a creature in his arms and life.

Silver lend towards Kaname's ear and murmured. "What do you desire, my master?"

There was a wicked heat in that deep voice. Immediately, Kaname found himself tempted to do certain activities, but he wondered if that could perhaps be put aside, for the moment. Kaname had an impulsive need to bring a smile to this beautiful man's face.

"What do you desire, Silver?" Kaname said, drawing himself back and smiling at the man. Silver rapidly blinked at him. It was like he wasn't expecting his reaction or question at all. Kaname found Silver's confused expression extremely cute.

Silver Night glanced at Kaname for a brief moment, and then he smiled at him. The smile had the warmth of a thousand suns. When Kaname looked back at Silver's smile, he couldn't look away.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Ideal Lover, Part II **

* * *

**Present**

Haruka's body ached. His muscles burned and complained against his violent abuse. Haruka was in the his mother's dojo practicing his swordsmanship. The heavy wooden practice stick in his hand gnawed into the flesh of his palms and little droplets of his blood painted it.

When Juri's unexpected words had revealed to him the truth of the damaged relationship between his mother and father – Haruka felt such a rage and disgust towards his own father, that he could barely control himself. He had immediately left the room and ignored their late arriving English tutor.

He'd been in mother's private dojo and gym for the last six hours. He punched lifeless dolls. He kicked heavy bean bags. He even practiced his shooting skills and did a few-to-many rounds with his beloved self-defense gun – Bloody Mary. Now, he was practicing his swordsmanship - lashing and blocking, attacking and defending. Even though Nitwit Juri didn't seem to understand the significant of her words, Haruka understood exactly what was going on.

Father cheated on mother.

_Father cheated on mother. _

**Father cheated on mother. **

The hurricane of emotions that Haruka felt could not be described. Mere words like hate, pain, disgust, anger, or hurt couldn't really describe his mental state. No wonder mother was so sad. No wonder mother was so angry. Father had hurt her in a way that was unspeakable. He betrayed her trust. Haruka hadn't felt so livid in all his life. He never cared much for his father, but he always had a grudging respect for him. However, now that respect had been damaged, and Haruka could no longer stomach it. Poor mother! If only he had known. If only he had seen the signs. Father didn't try hard enough to fix things with her over the past year. Perhaps that was the reason why mother refused to take his phone calls, e-mails, and various messages.

Mother had been silent about this entire affair. Haruka didn't really understand what to think about it. He truly didn't understand why she hadn't told Juri or himself. Surely, Juri and he would have understood better and would have been more sympathy to her problems.

So, why didn't she tell them anything?

Haruka stopped what he was doing.

Perhaps Mother didn't know the entire extent of the affair? After all, Juri and he didn't. Hell, not even the gossip papers hinted at the possibility, and those merciless vultures knew everything! Maybe she was in denial? Maybe she was confused and unsure about her position? Maybe she didn't want to poison her children's mind against their father prematurely? Mother knew that Juri loved father very much. Perhaps she said nothing to spare their feelings? Mother was the type of woman who would do such a thing.

Haruka's mind whirled at the possibilities.

Maybe she didn't know the full extent of father's betrayal? Perhaps she only suspected it but was hoping it wasn't true? Mother was probably trying to protect them from the truth she didn't want to believe, if that was the case.

Haruka frowned.

That couldn't be tolerated. He was her son. He would protect her and care for her. She, out of all the people in the world, didn't deserve this type of treatment from anybody –especially from the very man who swore to protect her all his life.

He was going to fix this.

Nevertheless, Haruka was not reckless. He was not an impulsive person. He needed to get all his facts straight, and then he knew exactly what do to.

Haruka bitterly twisted his lips. Maybe, just maybe, that man in the eastern rooms wasn't who he thought he was. Perhaps he was blowing things out of proportion?

Ha.

Denial isn't just a human trait after all. Haruka needed to meet his father and validate this affair with his own eyes. He needed evidence. Haruka decided that he would first confirm everything and then confront his mother with the truth. She should not force herself to live in a lie. His father be damned! He should pay for what he has done! He should teach his father a painful lesson!

Haruka gripped his wooden sword even tighter. Maybe he should kill the bastard whom his father dared to have an affair with? After all, that was the perfect punished for both of them for hurting his mother and destroying their family.

Haruka considered.

* * *

Despite the fact that the outside night air was bearing its tiny fangs, Kaname couldn't remember when he had so much fun in his life. With a slight smile on his lips, Kaname closed his eyes and started counting.

"One, two, three, four, five." Kaname said gamely.

Honestly, who would have thought Silver would ask him such an unexpected request?

"Let us play in the snow." Silver said mysterious with a warming smile.

Slightly bewildered by the request, Kaname languidly led the man to his private outdoor garden. The King's Palace was largest building in the Royal Multiplex. However, Kaname did not use all his facilities with any frequency. He tended to dwell within a selective set of four rooms: his private study, his bedroom, the gym, and his grand library.

Since he became the Vampire King of the Far Eastern Realm, Kaname had no time for amusements. To be able to run and manage a kingdom was a tireless and generally thankless task. While the benefits obviously out-weighted any defects of such a position, Kaname knew that being a King was a hard destiny.

Every time he solved a problem, another problem came to take its place. He had to deal with the various scandals and backstabbing nobles of his court. He was had to watch the numerous players within his realm and carefully balance the power he allowed certain people to wield. He had to solve countless complaints and needs of his people. He to clean up any mess within the vampire world in order to keep the human world ignorant of their existence.

It was not unusual for Kaname to spend long hours of the night and day at his office or private study working on papers, reading reports, planning weekly meetings, or scheduling his appearances at various vampire functions. Kaname worked and worked and worked. He had no time for anything else.

Especially for something like fun.

When Kaname had heard Silver's request – he was completely taken off guard. Let us play in the snow. What sort of a request was that? Kaname was a king, for darkness's sake! Rulers do not play. Rulers do not need to have fun. Rulers are supposed to rule.

So, why exactly did Kaname deeply desire to fulfill his request?

He brought Silver outside to his sorely neglected garden. Well, that wasn't exactly the truth. His garden was always in a lovely shape. However, Kaname rarely took the time to walk through it – unless he was dragged towards it by his little bundle of joy, Juri.

Silver had closely walked beside him but when he was outside his face brighten with innocent mirth at the thick level of snow on the ground. Frost covered the out-of-season roses and other unusual-for-winter plants. Ice painted the grass, but the snowflakes above their heads and around their bodies continued with their odd and playful dance.

With a boldness that was out of the blue, Silver leaned into Kaname and impishly whispered in his left ear, "My king, you have five minutes to an arm yourself for a snowball fight!"

Kaname had looked at the man like he had gone insane. Silver raised as playful eyebrow. "You aren't afraid to lose are you, my king?" And without waiting for Kaname's response, Silver rushed to the center of his garden and started to build a snow wall with many balls of snow.

Afraid to lose? Kaname mentally repeated to himself. Never!

A child-like spirit seemed to seize him then. Kaname smirked and ran to the far and opposite side of Silver's snow wall and began to build his own walled defense and arsenal.

Their playful snow battle has lasted two marvelous hours.

Kaname had to hand it to the Silver. The man knew how to be sneaky! Silver was able to land a few surprising hits on him. However, Kaname was able to return the attacks as good as he got them. He launched a few blows on his playful enemy as well.

Kaname smirked – Silver was extremely good at dodging.

Then they tried to build a snowman. Kaname discovered that it was not his best forte.

"Perhaps if you use less of your strength, my king, the snowballs won't be crushed and fall apart as easily." Silver said with slight amusement.

Kaname gave him a playful mock glare. "Hmm." He said, as he looked down at the falling over snowman. They then decided to build a snowman army for their second snowball war.

Despite his badly formed soldiers, Kaname won that battle by a mile.

Silver had pouted and decided he wanted to play a new game. And now they were playing hide and seek.

Kaname's lips twisted in a smile as he continued to close his eyes. "Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, and Thirty."

_**Fun**_.

Who would have thought that he, Kaname Kuran, would be having fun this very night?

Kaname smiled as he went to search for his lovely companion. Before Silver hid himself, he whispered a naughty sentence. "_If you can find me, you can have me. "_ There was an intense touch of controlled desire in his purple eyes. Kaname had shivered in delight because of that gaze.

With something that could be described as hard-won merriment, Kaname went off to search for the man who changed his entire life perspective in just a few short weeks.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading my lovely readers! I believe there might be a small lemon in the next chapter. Perhaps. Maybe. Possibly. (Eye twitch) But the plot continues to thicken! Anyway, thanks again and please leave a review!


	16. Chapter 15 Ideal Lover, Part III

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Yuki leaned against the warmth of her soon-to-be husband as they watched television together. They were watching the Newlywed Game Show, and Zero had allowed her to cuddle with him on the couch.

They were going to be officially married in a week, and she couldn't wait! All that planning, all the excitement! Yuki had never felt so happy in all her life!

Yuki loved Zero so much that she nearly bursted. She knew she had chosen correctly. So few people in the world would ever have the happiness she had right in this moment. Zero would always be the love of her life! And she knew, with a deep certainty, that she was the love of his life as well. They were perfectly matched. They were ideally suited for each other. Their love was one in a million and Yuki knew their lives would be one of continuous happiness forever.

Yuki gazed at Zero.

Many people misunderstood Zero. And many people thought Yuki was making a grave mistake in marrying him because Zero seemed so rebellious, cocky, and scary to the outside world. Yet, Yuki never believed that for one second. She knew Zero the best, and he knew her the best. Zero may act like a wild punk to the outside, but Zero's true nature was one of deep tenderness and gentleness. If Zero had lived a normal life, Yuki had a hunched that Zero would have been the living embodiment of a teddy bear!

Don't tell him she said that!

However, if Zero hadn't grown up like he had, everyone would have known his true nature. But Zero used his sharp tongue and mean actions to keep the world away because he wanted to protect it. Protect it from what? Well, Zero would claim he was protecting it from himself. Yuki would then have to smack him to get him out of his self-demeaning words. Zero was far too harsh on himself because of the difficulties he had faced in his brief life. Yuki was going to make sure he never thought badly of himself ever again. She was going to make sure he had all the happiness he deserved.

The host of the Game Show looked at his newest contestant and asked, "What do you love the most about your partner?"

Yuki gave Zero an imploring look.

Zero raised an amused eyebrow. "What, Yuki?"

"What do you love the most about me?" She nudged him.

Zero smirked. "What makes you think I love anything about you?"

_Zero really knew when to be difficult!_ She huffed.

But Yuki decided to call in his weak bluff. "Umm, the fact that you are going to be stuck with me for life in about a seven days, six hours, and 44 minutes?"

Zero's lips twitched into a small grin. "You're really counting down the time, Yuki?" He warped his arm around her closer and kissed her forehead. "I like everything about you, Yuki, but most especially your smile. Your smile tells me everything I need to know."

Yuki blushed.

Zero wanted to give himself a mental celebration. That answer was very smooth, if he were to say so himself. "What do you love about me, Yuki?" Zero returned her question to herself.

Yuki blinked and suddenly snapped her fingers. "I love it when you say my name." Yuki whispered into Zero's ear.

Zero blinked. He didn't really get it. When he said her name? Really?

Couldn't she have said something like his strength? Or his coolness? Or his wits? Why something so simple?

Women.

Yuki smiled at him and decided to explain herself more. "When you say my name, it's like you're saying 'I love you'. I always know I'm in your heart when you say my name."

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Ideal Lover, Part III**

* * *

**Present **

_Sometimes, it really is too easy_. Silver mentally mused to himself as he hid himself against a carefully selected winter cherry blossom tree. His master would find him soon, and Silver wanted to finalize his hold on the man's heart this night.

For the past four weeks, Silver Night had been carefully worming his way into his current master's heart. It had taken a very focused effort, but Silver knew he was close to his intended results. Everything he had done, everything thing he had said, every look, every touch, and every act – all of it were coming together to help him in this next important step.

While Silver knew the man was close to falling in complete love with him, there was one act left in this stage in the game that Silver need in order to ensure his hidden control of his master's heart. However, this act was entirely depended on his master's actions. Silver had used all the tactics he had to bring the man to this point. Silver had studied, scrutinized, and learned everything he could about the man and Silver had finally discovered the secret yearning of his newest master's heart.

His master wanted a secret and exclusive place that was the private retreat for his desperately lonely soul.

Silver wanted to snicker at the irony. A king that desperately desired an emotional refugee. Oh, the sheer bitter irony of everything. For someone to be so powerful and yet so desperate – that was a such a joke. But in the past weeks, Silver had successfully created this hidden dream of his master. Silver had carefully polished this highly wished for illusion. He had given his master what he had desired deep within his heart, despite the fact that he, his master himself, did not yet realize what he truly yearned for at a sub-conscience level.

However, there was one thing left. One thing that Silver had not been able to get from his master. One thing that Silver needed his master to give him before Silver could safely relax his psychological manipulations and cement his secret hold on the man's heart. It was the one thing that the man, himself, had to give to Silver that would be the very password to his soul.

Silver needed his master to give him his permission to say his real name.

Silver was a Doll and Dolls are not really considered true persons in this dark circle of the world. Dolls were playthings for the elite amusement of vampires. This is why the majority of Dolls didn't live for more than a year after their creation. They were seen as objects and not real people.

Yet, Silver survived because he had perfected the art of making himself a _person_ to his various masters. He survived because he forced them to see him as a living creature and not a toy they could simply toss away at will.

And he wasn't just any person to them, he was _**THE** _person to them. The ultimate person one could be to another.

A person's true love.

He had accomplished the art of becoming anyone's true love.

Silver had achieved the art of imitating love. He mastered the skill of impersonating love. He had realized the gift of falsely duplicating that feeling of having love. In truth, this was one of Silver's best kept secrets of surviving. He had mastered the secret of inspiring love in any creature who crossed his path.

Love.

True love was the only cure to a vampire's most deadly of diseases: loneliness. Love cured loneliness. Love was something that warmed the inside of a black soul. Love was what gave a person the ability to have a dream or fulfill a great ambition. Love could strengthen the lowest of weaklings or make a villainous tyrant kind.

True love was the ideal dream that every individual who ever lived wished for, longed for, and craved for. True love was something that created the best in a person. It also inspired the worst. Love made people stronger, faster, smarter. Love made people brighter, happier, and kinder.

But so few people in the world will experience the kind of love that utterly consumes a person. A love that makes a nation weep and that history forever remembers. Most people only dream of having a love that would be past down throughout the ages and would inspire the countless hopes and people throughout time.

Romeo and Juliet, Cleopatra and Mark Antony, Tristan and Isolde – the stories of these lovers have reflected the dream of true love for every creature that every walked under the sky.

And he, Silver Night, had survived because he was apt at creating the impression that all vampires yearned for. He could give them their most desired dream of finally having a true love of their very own.

But for that illusion to be firmly fashioned for his current master, Silver need the right to say the man's name.

A person's name was so massively important in this regard. It was the most important thing a person ever had. It was the first thing given to them when they were born, and it was the last thing that remained when they died.

Silver knew that once his master allowed him to speak his name, then Silver's hold on his heart was firmly in-place. Silver would be not be seen as a thing, a toy, or some faceless person. Neither would Silver be some random person, his master would quickly forget once he was gone from his sight.

All of Silver's efforts would be achieved once he was allowed this last vital acquiescence.

Silver had honed every tactic. He had craftily employed all his skill and actions. He had to brought his master and himself to this momentous stage. When Silver's master would finally allow him to say his true name, Silver would know that he had finally won the man's heart - even if the man never realized the significance of such a decision.

So Silver waited.

**To be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah...so, no yaoi lemon in this chapter. (Dodges a tomato). I'm sorry! I'm working on it, it really isn't that easy for me to write such things. (Dodges a pumpkin.) Silver/Zero is hard to write because Silver's current thoughts/actions will definitely drive the future acts of this weird story/plot of mine. (One wonders if that's a good or bad thing for future renewed Zero...and rest of the characters in this dark fic...XD!) Anyway, I'm rambling!

**A/N 2:** I've add some additional info about this story on my profile page to answer some questions I keep getting! I'm sorry my explanations are terrible! This is why I could never be a teacher! X(

Thanks for reading and please a review!


	17. Chapter 16 Ideal Lover, Part IV

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

_**Warning: There is strong sexual content in this chapter! **_

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

It wasn't that Zero was a spiteful jerk, but even he had to mentally gloat about his victory in love.

While it really wouldn't be in his character to publicly boast of being the one chosen by Yuki, Zero did have the urge to walk around with his chest held a bit higher and to hold his back a bit more straighter.

The faithful knight had the triumph in the end! It was the knight that finally got his dream girl in this love story! Go Team Lancelot! Take that King Arthur!

Didn't girls usually choose the prince over the knight? In all those love stories, real or fictional, the heroine always choose the asshole that made her cry for some odd-ball reason. Despite the fact, that the faithful best friend or guy would always try and be there for her and care for her, he was never the one choose in the end. Due to pop culture brainwashing (those evil crummy romance authors), Zero expected their love triangle to end up like that. Plus there was the fact that he was an ex-human vampire hunter, who's remaining time on this Earth wasn't exactly so certain.

Nevertheless, Zero had well-been prepared for Yuki choosing Kuran over him. It wasn't like everything wasn't pointing in that direction. Even when they lived together as 'brother' and 'sister' or when they were prefects together, Yuki always talked about and admired Kuran. It always made Zero frustrated and secretly envious, but in the end, if that was what made Yuki happy, he wasn't going to stand in her way. Zero wanted Yuki to be happy regardless if it was with him or not. Some might believe he was a sucker for such type of thinking, but despite his often carefully crafted tough-guy cold persona, Zero didn't want anyone he cared about to suffer needlessly. It was easier for him to take a bullet to the heart, than watch someone he cared about in pain or cry.

But Kuran wasn't the one who got the dream girl in the end.

It was he: _Zero Kiryu!_

When Zero had realized that Yuki had chosen him, he'd been on cloud nine for weeks. Every time he saw Kuran, he wanted to say_: Ha! Bet you didn't think I would be the one, didn't you? Didn't you, you conceited prick? The good guy finally finished first!_ It was completely out-of-character, and Zero would never actually say such a thing out loud, but Zero felt he had a right to be happy. His life was finally looking up after all this sad years and events.

So, for once, Zero went through his days feeling truly and completely happy. He smiled so much these past few months that he feared his face would freeze that way forever.

The past few months had gone by in a joyous daze and in a few day's time, he was going to start a new-brand chapter of his life. However, despite the fact that Zero had no regrets of being the one chosen to ride off into the sunset towards his happily ever after, Zero didn't want Kuran to be too lonely though.

He wasn't sure when he noticed it, and he knew Yuki was a bit clueless to it, but Kuran would look at them with a carefully blank and neutral expression. Zero would only see it when Yuki would lightly kiss him on the cheek or some other small gesture. In Kuran's dark-brown eyes, Zero would notice that brief flash of pain and loneliness.

Zero could recognize the look, because he had probably experienced that same feeling whenever Yuki gave a blushing smile at Kuran during their younger years.

However, Kuran was taking everything well. So well in fact, that Zero had somewhat increased his respect for him a bit more for it. Zero would have thought that a jealous possessive bastard like Kuran would refuse this twist of fate and be up to plotting something terrible, but that didn't really seem to be the case.

In fact, that man was even paying and helping them plan their wedding. (Zero had just seen a bill for their wedding flowers alone - $50,000 for flowers! What were they watered with? Gold and fairy dust? The hell? If it had been appropriate, Zero would have kissed the man. If Zero had to pay for their wedding bill, Zero knew his children would forever live in poverty. ) Nevertheless, the very fact that Kuran was footing the bill for this thing was a pretty honorable thing, and he had even accepted Yuki's and Zero's relationship. This help Zero come to a particular important decision. He strengthened his resolve to say what he was about to say to his love rival and soon-to-be brother-in-law.

While he nervously scratched the back of his head, Zero faced Kuran in his private office. Kuran had been looking at some business papers, when Zero had knocked on his office's door. However, his dark eyes were now riveted to Zero's light purple ones. The strange intensely focused attention caught Zero a bit off guard, but he summoned his pride and met Kuran's odd gaze head-on.

Zero simply blurted out what he wanted to say, "Look Kuran, don't be sad."

Kuran blinked at him in surprised. "Excuse me, Kiryu?"

Zero sighed and shook his head. "Don't be sad." He repeated again. Man, he was terrible at these kinds of things.

Kuran simply looked at him with an expressionless face.

Zero sighed deeply again. He'll just say what he needed to say. "Look _Kaname_," at this Kuran's eyes widen at the use of his name, and Zero knew it sounded so weird coming from _his_ mouth, "Don't be a stranger, okay? We are going to be family soon, so don't think for a second you won't be welcome in our home." Kuran looked at him like he'd never seen Zero before. Zero decided that he needed to leave immediately. Man, this was so embarrassing!

Zero continued on. "You can visit us and stay at our home as often as you like. So don't feel lonely, sad, or anything. "

Kuran stared at Zero for a long time, and then he shook his head as well. "Don't worry about me." He then lightly grin. Zero wasn't entirely sure of the meaning behind such an action. "I won't be sad, _Zero_."

Zero blinked. It really was strange to hear the pure-blood vampire use his given name.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Ideal Lover IV **

* * *

**Present**

When Kaname had found him, he reached around Silver's waist and pulled him in close.

"I've seemed to have caught you." He whispered into Silver's long silver hair.

Kaname mused. Standing behind the rare winter cherry blossom tree wasn't exactly a good idea if one wanted to hide, especially when one looked like this beautiful creature. Kaname's eyes had a feast when he spotted the man quietly.

The full moon was out in all its haunting glory, and the midnight wind blew gently. Pink, red, and white cherry blossoms flowed in the air. Silver was wearing a shockingly white kimono and was warped in a large full-body white fur coat. His black boots seemed to dig into the snow-covered ground, and his long moonlight hair was caught and whipped lightly in the gently night breeze. His face was slightly pink from the icy temperature, and his lips were stained crimson.

Kaname considered that Silver actually _wanted_ to be found quickly.

Kaname nearly laughed. It wasn't like he had a problem with that!

Silver lightly laughed and covered Kaname's caging arm with his own. "Indeed, you have, my king." Silver's voice purred. Kaname greatly admired how the man spoke. His voice was like a deep and powerful river. At times, it could be quiet, slow, and calm but at other moments, it would be wild, rapid, and rushed.

Listening to the man's voice was like music to Kaname's tedious current life. Silver's harmonic voice always matched his state of mind or emotions perfectly.

Kaname lightly breathed in the scent of his hair. It was its usual unique aroma - the scent of roses and sandalwood. Kaname had come to admire that unique perfume as well. Silver leaned to Kaname's chest trustingly. His snow-white neck bent slightly to the side, exposing his tender throat.

Kaname was sorely tempted to bite it. His fangs started to itch. In a half-forgotten dream, he was assaulted by the memory of drinking this man's delicious and tasty blood. He remembered the robust and addictive flavor of this man's tincture. But he had yet to savor the rare taste of it again. Kaname didn't know why that was the case exactly. But for some inexplicable reason, he didn't want to fully consume the creature in his arms so completely.

Something was missing before he had that justification.

Perhaps it was due to his dying self-reproach from before, or perhaps he was just being silly. However, Kaname wasn't sure why he was so reserved at this particular aspect of taking the man. Clearly, Kaname had the right to do so, but he just wasn't sure _why_ he was waiting to do so.

"What do I get because I found you?" Kaname asked gracefully. Again, he inhaled Silver's intoxicating scent of roses and sandalwood.

Silver was silent for a brief moment, but without a word, he smoothly removed his hold on Kaname's hand. He turned around, his diminutive back touching the cherry tree's cold bark, and he looked Kaname in the eyes. His grayish-purple orbs ensnared Kaname's nucleus. Silver reached up and touched Kaname's fresh face to draw him in even closer.

"Everything I am." Silver whispered his words to Kaname's lips like a forbidden promise.

Time decided that it would take a sorely needed and very tranquil vacation.

Kaname grabbed the right side of Silver's face and pulled him in close. Silver's eyes were closed, and he waited unexpectedly for Kaname to beginning. He felt Silver's hot breath against his cheek, and he savored the feeling.

With unknown gentleness, Kaname connected their mouths. His cold lips press gently against Silver's slightly parted crimson ones. Kaname tightened his grip around Silver's neck and pulled the man even tighter to him.

Warmth spread throughout Kaname's body as Silver allowed him to slowly explore the edges of his mouth. Kaname felt every dip and crease. He felt every succulent and luscious contour of his lips. He drunk in the air from his lips as if he was drawing in Silver's very essence into his soul. Suddenly, Silver raised himself on his tippy toes and deepen their kiss. His entire weight leaned into Kaname as his fingers started its gentle exploration of his coat and shirt.

The cold moonlight air swirled around them as he pushed Silver against the tree. The winter bark was harsh, and it dunged into Silver's newly exposed marble skin. Without warning, Kaname roughly opened Silver's fur coat and slid his hands under his white haori. Silver grasped at the contact of Kaname's fingertips against his bare skin.

Silver's skin suddenly burned, as Kaname's lascivious caresses shattered his control.

Kaname craved... _no, wanted_..._**no, needed**_ this man's flesh. His body burned against him so deliciously.

With elegant fingers, Kaname ghosted Silver's left cheek. He swept them warmly across his parted lips and down the quivering column of his pale throat. Kaname paused in his hand's tracing at Silver's collarbone for a merciless moment. Then he leaned forward again as Silver's darken plum gray eyes fluttered closed.

Kaname's mouth devoured Silver's lips. His kiss was a consuming one partnered with a scorching tongue. The hand that Kaname used to hold Silver's collarbone trailed downward, and Kaname made large languid circles down Silver's naked chest before slipping towards his waist. Kaname's other hand slinked into Silver's long rose-scented hair, tilting Silver's head upward.

Silver willingly yielded to Kaname's touch, and he whimpered. His inarticulate moaning for breath drove Kaname's body into a state of unreasoned frenzy.

Silver grip Kaname's broad shoulders as he was pushed against the cold tree bark. Silver's velvet tongue glided past Kaname's lips. Kaname shivered. The feeling was being tasted – wet and moist, light and heavy – shot numerous heavy spikes of wanton pleasure throughout Kaname's hot body. Silver returned Kaname's initial tasting. He greedily suckled Kaname's tongue as he arched into Kaname's body with a pitiful and needy desperation.

With a skill that Kaname had mastered over the past few weeks, he undid Silver's buckle and undid his hakamas. The thickly pleated pants and silk underwear slid down his shaking legs to his covered boots.

Icy air touched Silver's completely naked flesh, but he couldn't feel cold as Kaname slid his hand over, under, and down Silver's flesh. Silver sobbed his pleasure into Kaname's open mouth.

Suddenly, Kaname grounded his pelvis against Silver's – informing the man that he was ready – _more than ready_ – and hard – _more than hard_.

"_Master_." Silver was breathless. The word was spoken in a desperate and deep moan. His skin was so hot. His mind burned. His flesh hungrily ached for more.

Unexpectedly, Kaname had the desire to hear Silver cry out his name just like that.

"Say my name." Kaname hissed between Silver's flushed skin.

Silver's amethyst eyes widen in astonishment. The cold tree bark bit into his impassioned flesh. The command had been so quickly spoken, that Silver wasn't exactly sure if he had heard his master correctly.

Kaname smirked at the man's innocent confusion.

"Say my name, Silver." Kaname commanded as his pulled that evermore sweltering and trembling body closer to himself.

Silver quietly gasped. "_**Kaname**_." His fingernails hooked into Kaname's shoulders tighter.

His desire spiraled out of his control. Kaname viciously smashed the man against the cherry tree. Without warning, he ate Silver's cries as he entered him. Kaname felt everything. Everything felt tight and hot and warm and moist.

Despite being unready, Silver felt like he was tasting his heart. His pulses drummed inside his throat, his chest, and everywhere on his body.

Silver rocked against Kaname with the man still inside him. The tree hissed its protest, as if insulted that such an activity was being performed against its will.

"_**Kaname**_." Silver moaned again. His arms tightly wrapping around Kaname's chest. He pulled himself higher into position.

Without truly understanding why, Kaname suddenly had his personal validation for the man's rich blood.

Kaname's ivory teeth tunneled into Silver's pale shoulder. Small droplets of blood was drawn.

Silver gasped. To be impaled in two different ways – both so different – both so similar – broke him. Silver frenziedly cried out his gratification. "_**Kaname**_."

Time slowly sauntered on as Kaname pumped into him and as Silver was repeatedly pounded against the defiled tree.

White hot pleasure stabbed Silver's body and soul. He moved against him, but he was unable to stifle his harsh and ragged moans against Kaname's clothed shoulder.

Kaname's tapered fingers dung painfully into the flesh of Silver's hip. His groin tightening at an agonizingly proportional rate.

Out of the blue, Kaname withdrew himself for a painful moment, but then he pulled Silver up higher against the tree. The suddenly feeling of cold night air was immediately replaced again by the tree bark and Kaname's hot but still mostly clothed body.

Silver looked at Kaname and was met by the furiously burning dark-brown eyes of his master as the man reentered him.

Silver clung to him for dear life. The man was taking him so _vigorously_. The slamming was delicious and overwhelming and could almost be described as violent. Pleasurable violence. Violently pleasurable.

Silver's heart pound. It felt like it wanted to crack open his ribs and erupt from his chest. The hammering of his heartbeat was in-tune to Kaname's breathy groans, and the screams of the stressed out cherry tree.

Kaname continued to thrust deeply into Silver. Over and over and over and over again. Kaname managed to correctly hit that one spot – that one bundle of nerves – that one spot that continuously lanced Silver with ecstatic agony.

Silver looked into Kaname's eyes. His eyes were like inescapable traps. A hot convulsion started to rise from his feet, then to his legs, then finally to his thighs, and the rest of his body.

They both shattered.

Kaname shuddered within Silver's tight wet passage. He thrust once, twice, thrice, and finally, he released. A jet of hot white liquid was sprayed into Silver's body with startling power. Kaname's boneless weight pressed against Silver. His harsh breath fanned Silver's neck and cheek.

Silver was also breathing heavily against him. When Kaname decided to withdraw himself, it pulled a silent groan from Silver's ruby lips.

There was an intensely quiet moment between them. Something extremely important had just occurred.

And to Kaname, that realization was that he _knew_ he would _never_ let this person go.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Because I was hit by a well-aimed squash, this chapter was finally finished. XD I'm really not very strong with scenes such as these, so time is needed when I decide to write them...but, ah well...Practice makes perfect, right? xP Well, thanks for reading! And please leave a little review! Reviews are like energy to a fanfic writer's typing fingers! ;D


	18. Chapter 17 Movement

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

Kaname slid his sweaty body to Silver's left side. The large cherry wooden bed made no movements and the silk black sheets were hot and damp. A piece of Silver's long silver hair clung to Kaname's chest, as the man tried to regain his breathing.

Like always, the orgasms with Silver were phenomenal. Kaname couldn't believe he had lived this long without experiencing this level of sheer pleasure.

Kaname pulled Silver closer to his chest and massaged the back of his neck. He could feel the man's heavy breathing against his nipple, and that sensation would have driven him mad earlier. Well, to be honest, the delicious sensation was giving him pleasurable tingling; however, he was a bit too exhausted to start another carnal escapade.

Kaname gently moved his massaging hand to Silver's cheek. He massaged small circles around on his cheekbone.

"Master Kaname," Silver started to say in his lovely deep voice, "Are you satiated?" He moved closer to Kaname's chest and lightly kissed the middle of his torso. A sharp spike of pleasure shot throughout Kaname's body and he could feel his body already responding favorably to another repeat.

Kaname mentally cursed his greed flesh. It was almost as if he was becoming addicted to the sensations of his newly found reckless pleasure. Nevertheless, the sun had risen, and he needed to get some sleep. Kaname looked down at his bedmate. "I am quite satiated, Silver." He gently said. "I need to get some rest."

Kaname irately looked at the exit door of his personal haven. It seemed _so far_ and his master bedroom seemed even _further_.

"You are leaving now?" Silver softly asked. Kaname shot him a quick glance. The man seemed gloomy at the thought of his impending departure. "Will you come back tonight?"

Was there even a doubt?

Kaname looked at the far exit door and then came to a hasty decision. Why should he get up in the first place? He was quite comfortable right where he was. There was no harm for it. Besides, the room is probably too cold for him right now.

"I will rest here for the day." Kaname saw a look of pleased contentment grace Silver's face. He pulled the man closer and settle his head at the croak of Silver's elegant neck. His right arm hugged the man and prevented him from getting away.

The stayed that way until they both reached relaxed sleepiness. The last thing Kaname remembered doing was pressing his lips lightly against Silver's soft forehead. Without really thinking about it, he uttered a habitual phase he always used with Yuki when she had decided to share his bed for a day.

_"Let us rest together, my love."_

* * *

**Chapter 17: Movement **

* * *

**Present **

Yuki looked at her two children, Haruka and Juri. She loved these two as if they were a part of her. She nurtured and cared for them. She taught them all the ways of the world. She had kissed their faces when they cried. She helped them whenever they experience a major childhood or adolescent problem. She had healed them when they were sick. She gave them presents and gifts and praise to make them completely happy for all their lives.

And soon she was going to destroy their entire world.

But not yet.

Despite the fact that she would _never_ care for Kaname ever again, she did not want her children to be caught between them. The divorce was going to be hard and bloody. She knew that Kaname would not easily let her go. He was far too possessive, far too prideful, and far too selfish to allow such a thing.

And a pureblood divorce has never happened before in all of vampire history. There was no real precede for such a thing to occur. Her divorce against Kaname would rule the global vampire world for the coming ages. Yuki wanted to crazily laugh at the irony. In a distant past life, she would never have considered such an action.

When she loved, she loved till death.

And that person, in particular, even after his unfair, uncalled, and malicious death.

But now, she was _changed_.

She was so different from what she used to be so long ago. Lost had made her cruel. Lost had made her spiteful. Lost had made her revengeful. Lost had prepared her to hate.

She was so different now. So very different. Every day when she looked at her beautifully painted self in her silver-glass mirror, she saw a woman she never saw before.

With an painful understanding, Yuki knew she could not go back to what she once was.

But she would at least be free.

She would liberate herself from the binging yoke of her brother-husband's selfish chains. She would find herself again. Perhaps she would return to the girl whom her true love, Zero, once knew and loved. Perhaps she would even join him in death after this entire affair was all over. Yuki was so tired. So tired of living. So tired of being so empty. So tired of having a life without inner peace.

Nevertheless, she wanted her children to at least have one more happy moment before the end of this life's chapter happened.

When they came back from seeing their father, she was going to tell them of the divorce. However, for now, let them enjoy the few blood-free moments they had left of their current world.

"Why don't you both visit your father for three days during this holiday break before the new royal year?" Yuki quietly suggested.

Both of her children looked at her with wide and surprised eyes, but their following reactions were so different.

Juri immediately smiled brightly at her. Yuki knew the girl loved her father dearly and wasn't exactly very happy for being separated from him throughout this entire year. Yuki knew that she was going to be the most hurt after she learned about her mother's plans for divorce. Yuki briefly wondered if Juri would ever talk to her again after this. If Juri never understood or forgave her, Yuki didn't know what she'll do about it.

In contrast, Haruka looked dark. Despite her best of intentions, her son and soon-to-be ex-husband had never really developed a close father and son bond. In the past, Yuki tried everything to get those two to bond, but their relationship never really developed to her desires. Yuki knew this was more Kaname's fault than her son's. Haruka had tried again and again to live up to his father's expectations, but Kaname never really acknowledged his son's efforts and was so quick to criticize him when Haruka did something less than pleasing to him. Kaname pushed Haruka too much and now Haruka was at the age where it would be extremely hard for him to want any type of father-son relationship to be form.

Yuki briefly reflected that her impending divorce to Kaname would further isolate the child from his father. She also didn't know what to do about that situation either.

Juri clapped her hands. "Thank you so much Mama!" The girl sang out. "I really wanted to see daddy!" The girl shifted her eyes a bit, and then she blushed a deep red. Yuki raised an amused eyebrow. Yuki wondered if the girl had other reasons for wanting to see her father. Knowing Juri, she probably wanted a new wardrobe or the latest social media gadget. Kaname spoiled her far too much.

Haruka simply nodded his head. "I'll do whatever you say, mom." He pressed his lips together.

Yuki smiled lightly at her children. Yes, it was better that she gave them this last opportunity to be with their father before she revealed to them her plans. Hopefully, Kaname was utilized this time with them wisely and not spent it on his various amounts of work.

"Okay then." Yuki said. Then she looked at them seriously. "However, it is extremely important that you both come back in five days. I have something important to reveal to you at that time."

"Something important?" Haruka frowned at her. "Why can't you just tell us now?"

Yuki had no idea how she had thought of an answer, but the three words came out of her mouth. "It's a surprise." Well, those words _were_ true. They just didn't know the half of it. "Now, go pack your things! I've already informed Butler Rio of your arrival."

Juri jumped up and kissed her on her right cheek. Haruka simply shook his head and walked away. They were both gone before she realized it.

Yuki sighed. That had been _too_ easy.

She looked at her pale hands for a moment. She looked at the her finely groomed purple nails and perfect cuticles. With these hands, she was going to destroy her children's entire world around them. Yuki really hated herself. So much pain was before them in the future. So much pain and fighting and heartache were in store for her family.

Yet, everything would be revealed soon, and Zero's soul would finally be able to rest in peace. Yuki decided that she would visit him and reveal her future plans to him first. After all, he was the reason she was resolved in going through this next challenge in her sad life.

* * *

Juri's heart was bright!

She was so happy! The heavens were on her side! Clearly, Silver Angel Man was her destined true love!

Juri thought and thought and thought of how to convince her mother to let her go back to her palace, but she hadn't been able to figure out a way. She had spent many sleepless days trying to think of an excuse. However, Juri didn't think her mother would approval of her request if she knew Juri's true reason for wanting to go back to the palace was because of a boy!

Sure, Juri loved her papa! It would be lovely to see him and be with him as well.

But Silver Angel Man was going to be her man!

And now, her own mother suggested that she up and go back to the place where her true love was!

Juri was so excited! She couldn't wait to meet him and see him and talk to him. She remembered exactly his first words to her was.

"_Your face is glorious." He had said with love-sick and sleepy purple eyes. _

Juri's face and heart always blushed at the memory. What girl wouldn't feel happy that such a handsome man said those lovely words to her? Juri didn't think there was a girl in the world who wouldn't swoon if Silver Angel Man said them. But the fact of the matter was – he said those words to her and her alone!

Juri's heart fluttered. She was so lucky! Daddy must have chosen him for her! Juri always thought she would have to marry her meanie brother, Haruka, but she believed that she wouldn't have to now. Clearly, Papa found him for her to make Juri happy! Papa always did things to make Juri happy! He always smiled at her and gave her everything she wanted. So she knew, he knew, that she wasn't very thrilled with the prospect of marrying Haruka, despite it being a tradition. So, he probably found Silver Angel Man for her! After all, why else would Silver Angel Man be a guest in daddy's private palace?

Juri couldn't wait to learn who he was! Clearly, he was a rare and mysterious foreigner! Juri had never seen a person who looked like him in her entire life! Perhaps he was a prince? Maybe he was a knight? Juri couldn't wait to meet him and learn about him!

* * *

Haruka's heart was darkly crafting.

His mother did not yet realize it, but she had inadvertently helped him in his plan to get their revenge on his father.

After the revelation of his father's betrayal, Haruka wondered how he was going to get his vengeance on his despicable father. He had pondered on the many different ways he would be able to accomplish his revenge, but each plan he thought about didn't seem very feasible because before he could implement them, he hadn't figured out a way to get away from his mother without her knowing about his plans. Surely, if mother knew, she would try to stop him. Mother was the type to shield them from harm and take the damage herself, then allow Haruka or Juri to be hurt. So, she couldn't know about his plans until everything was over.

Nevertheless, she helped him by unintentionally giving him an excuse to see his wicked father. Haruka wondered if this was a sign.

Even though Haruka had yet to finalize his plan of action, he knew that he was going to confront the man his father had decided to start an affair with! Haruka had decided that he was going to destroy this home-wreaker's life! How dare this person hurt his mother! How dare that person destroy his family! Haruka was going to go to the palace and get rid of this man! That dirty home-wreaker! That evil destroyer! That tramp!

Maybe this guy was the reason why mother had been attacked a year ago? Perhaps the gold-digger was the reason for his parent's year-long slit? Everything made so much sense, as Haruka put the various broken pieces of his life this past year back together. Everything that went wrong could logically be blamed on that dirty home-wreaker's sudden appearance.

Haruka was going to find this man and erased him from his family's life! It was the only way for his familial peace to be restored again.

**To be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Ha ha! And so the plot thickens! When I read my precious reader's reviews, it seems this story has attracted quite a diverse readership! To that, I'm extremely grateful! I am so happy that my efforts are bringing you guys joy! Plus it's my B-day today! So, extreme happiness abounds within me right now! LOL! Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	19. Chapter 18 Outsiders

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

The European Vampire King, Maxwell Von Anderson, briefly considered if he should intervene in a rapidly developing plot against his fellow Far Eastern King. That plan was a bit barbaric, but that was what made it so delightful to Maxwell. He had not seen such cruelty in ages, and the mere fact that such events may happen again filled him with an excitement he couldn't really express.

A few of the rebellious Korean pureblood vampire clans were about to massacre a large number of humans in order to weaken the power hold of their foreign-blood tyrant king. After all, the Korean humans had been free of their Japanese invaders for more than a century! Why must the noble and elite vampires still be in submission to a foreign dictator?

The idea was shameful on all accounts.

Yet the thought of being able to witness the sight of bloodshed, mayhem, and death again, had thrilled him, even if he wasn't the one to do the bloodletting.

However, the only reason why Maxwell would even think to intervene would be due to his twisted feelings when dealing with the Far Eastern Vampire Queen, Yuki Kuran.

He liked her.

He liked her the moment he first saw her.

He would never forget his first image of her as an unhinged and blood-soaked huntress confined in the dark belly of the underground world with the dust and blood of numerous corpses arranged around her bleeding feet.

It was such a beautiful vision. He hadn't seen something like it for the past few centuries.

So, if Maxwell was going to intervene and warn his fellow King, he would only so do, if his Queen had requested it of him.

Funny thing was, he didn't think she even knew what was happening in their outer court. Thus, Maxwell didn't think such a request would ever be coming from her lips.

Maxwell smiled. He decided he wasn't going to do anything to stop it.

Nevertheless, all good things carried with it bad tidings. Maxwell knew that if such an event were to happen, an emergency Ruler's Council would be summoned, and he really despised such a thing. After all, if a Ruler's Council were summoned, he would have to meet and deal with that annoying Northern American King and his sheep-like allies and currently-non-enemies. Furthermore, cleaning up the mess and negotiating retribution prices with the various human governments would be a tricky and time-consuming manner. The aftermath would all be so annoying.

All the same, Maxwell decided he was not going to move one finger to help his fellow King. After all, it would be so much more fun and so much more beneficial to his various interests if the Far Eastern King lost more of his power and control.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Outsiders **

* * *

**Present**

King Kaname Kuran looked at his Head Butler, even Rio's wrinkles seem unnerved by this glaze. Rio felt he was on the urge of getting another terrible headache. Events were passing far too quickly for him to really keep up with them, much less to even understand them.

How exactly does a Queen go from not contacting her reviled spouse for months to allowing her children to visiting him twice in less than two months time? How exactly does a King go from a violent abusive drunkard to calm lover in five weeks? How exactly does an enslaved young man become a highly prized person to such a king during those five weeks?

Events move fast, but surely this was too fast?

What's next? Would the Queen suddenly move back to the Palace Complex?

Rio's brain had really slowed it seemed.

"Excuse me?" The King looked at him incredulously.

Rio sighed. Maybe he was getting too old for this. Young people and their speedy actions and decisions. "The Queen's Current Residence has informed me that your children will arrive here in a few hours time."

His King simply looked at him. Rio had the feeling the man himself was as confused as he was, though he didn't seem so.

The King then sighed. "Prepare the Prince's and Princess's Palaces, then. However, I still need to work on a few matters. Do not allow them to interrupt me." The King gave him a dark and commanding look. "I'll see them when I'm finished with my papers."

Rio nodded and decided to move along with the increasingly odd events.

* * *

Seiren didn't like coming here, but she stood at a respectful distance as Yuki made her way to her past love's grave site.

The grave site was probably in the most unusual of places for a grave to be - the beach.

Kaname had purchased a small and hidden beach property and allowed Yuki to bury the bloodied remains of her past love's found wedding clothes there. Those tore bits of clothing were the only thing they found of the ex-human when he went missing, but Yuki would return to this grave site, time and time again, because it was the only thing she had left of him.

But Seiren really didn't like coming here. It brought her too many painful memories.

Many people thought Seiren was an emotionless but loyal servant. While her being loyal was true, she didn't think emotionless fit her. Seiren wasn't emotionless. She was just reserved with displaying her feelings, and she didn't like being illogical or hasty with her actions.

Seiren knew that made the various people around her extremely distant from her. Once Hanabusa Aido said he didn't like her at all because she was so distant and weird. Seiren pressed her lips in a tight manner at the memory. But then, Aido didn't like _any_ woman he could not seduce. So, perhaps she should take the words of a cold-blood player as a compliment to her personality?

Seiren resumed her focus on her lone friend. Yuki had covered her entire face with a large black hat that had a long dark and obscure veil. Seiren didn't even know how Yuki could even walk around with such a thing on, much less move in the right direction. However, Seiren didn't question it. Yuki would always wear that odd hat whenever she didn't wear her heavy layers of makeup, which was all the time, really. Serien didn't think it was because of vanity, but for the life of her, Seiren couldn't really understand the significance of Yuki's hidden makeup-less face. A vampire woman didn't really need such things. They were naturally beautiful creatures, but despite all her time learning about the woman, Seiren really didn't understand all her friend's activities.

Yes, a friend. Yuki Kuran was her friend. Yuki Kuran was one of the few people that considered her as such a thing as a friend. Their relationship was something even Seiren was still somewhat confused by in regard to how it happened. It happened in such a bizarre and unexpected way.

Seiren remembered.

"_Seiren, please be one of my bridesmaids!" A bouncy young girl asked in a hallway one afternoon. Yuki had recently cut her hair again. When she had become her pureblood self, her hair had grown long like a weed, and it still did. However, Yuki kept cutting it because she preferred shorter hairstyles. _

_Seiren looked at her. The packages in her hands dropped in a loud thump. Seiren didn't even think Yuki knew her name before this strange moment, much less ask such a thing of her. "Excuse me, Mistress Yuki?" Serien asked in a surprised tone. _

_Yuki scratched her head. "Be my bridesmaid, please!" Yuki looked at Seiren with large water-filled brown eyes. _

"_What is a bridesmaid supposed to do?" Seiren asked the girl in complete shook. Seiren knew she wasn't the type of person people thought of when planning a party. What in the world was that girl thinking? She didn't know Seiren at all! _

"_Bridesmaids are supposed to watch the bride's back, I think!" Yuki answered brightly. _

_And for some strange reason, Seiren agreed to it. _

Seiren smiled to herself. How odd things happen.

Yet, Seiren decided to settle herself in her chosen post for the night and probably the rest of the following day. Yuki had a tendency to stay at this grave site for long periods of time. But Seiren would watch over the woman, after all, she was one of her bridesmaids.

* * *

Toga Yagari leaned heavily on his cane.

For the millionth time, he envied Kaien Cross's twin genes. Toga looked like he was ten steps near the grave, but Kaien Cross looked like he was just getting into early middle ages. It seemed the man had a lot of years left in him, but while Toga envied Cross's physical fitness, he didn't envy his long life.

Toga would soon be dead, and he was glad for it. His life had really sucked.

"I was thinking of opening up an exchange program for my vampire students!" Cross gushed. "After all, my human students have been able to study abroad for such a long time now! I should allow my vampire students the same freedom!"

Toga rolled his single blue eye. Like vampires needed help to travel – those night bastards tended to have the resources to do whatever they wanted.

"I was thinking of contacting a European school and –"

Toga hissed his teeth. "_IDIOT_! Europe is off-limits!" Toga rubbed his hands. "I'm not about to get between Kaname and Maxwell." As the Head of the Hunter's Association, which was the only human institution created for human's protection on this side of the world when it came to dealing with bloodsuckers, Toga wasn't about to add foreign vampires into the mix. Foreign vampires lived by foreign laws, and Toga really wanted his last days on this crumby planet to be peaceful.

"Choose another vampire realm." Toga said in biting tones.

Kaien pouted at him. That was not a real good look on an middle-age man.

"How about North America?"

"And have a three-for-all?" Toga shook his head. "American Vampire King Edwards and Kuran may tolerate each other, but let's not rock _that_ boat, shall we?"

"India?"

"Ally of Maxwell."

"Middle East?"

"Same as the first."

"South America?"

"Part of the New World Vampire Alliance that includes the North American Realm!" Toga hissed his teeth. "You can't be this clueless of current coalitions, can you? Do you want to start a war or something?"

Cross looked teary eyed. "How about vampires from Central and Southern Africa?"

"Sure, if you can even _find_ them." Toga smirked. "Their isolationist policies are the strictest in the world and Queen Biashara Bimnono isn't exactly warm to 'pale-skin vampires', as she likes to call them."

Cross pressed his lips tightly together. "She isn't really warm to anybody, really. She's the oldest person in the world. And old people are mean people!" Cross pouted again.

Toga's eye twitched. He was sure that last sentence was meant for him.

"What about the Australian Realm?" Cross shot at him.

Toga was about to shoot his suggestion down, just to spite the man for his comment about the elderly really, but he couldn't really think of anything to say. The Australian King was an ally to Kuran. So, it could work. Theoretically, anyway. Vampire Rulers aren't exactly known for their loyalty to their allies. But in that vein of thinking, the Vampire Ruler Queens of the Pacific and Caribbean Island Realms weren't bad options either.

"Maybe." Toga grounded the word. Still, Toga didn't really want any new problems and foreign vampires were just new _problems_.

Cross's baby brown eyes brighten. "Then I'll just-"

Toga's cell phone started ringing. He hated the thing. His phone was an ancient relic when compared to the newer methods of communication, but he despise those methods even more.

Toga held up his hand to silent Cross for a moment. "Hello, this is Yagari speaking." There were only three people that could call him on this number. One was dead, one was right beside him, so that only left another option.

Kaito Takamiya cursed. "Get your ass over here! We have a situation! 200 innocent Korean people have just been killed by vampires!"

**To be Continued**

* * *

**A/N**: And the plot thickens! For those of you on my story alert list, I'm sorry for the false update earlier! I was trying to edit some mistakes in my previous chapters and accidentally switch things up. (I'm a one-woman pony-writer, so all my chapters haven't been beta edited, so I can't really catch all my mistakes until after time has passed.) Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	20. Chapter 19 Meetings, Part I

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**100 Years Ago**

"I think the name Zero Jr. would be perfect for our first child." Yuki said unexpectedly as she kicked her feet in the park swing set. It was a nice day and Yuki and Zero had decided to spend it at the park.

Zero chocked on his soda. After a moment of wheezing and sputtering, Zero stared at his soon-to-be wife in shocked horror.

"You're pregnant? Already? How?" Zero wheezed through soda chocking gasps.

"I think you know '_how_' Zero." Yuki teased. "But **_no_**, I'm _**not** _pregnant. It's far too earlier for something like that, silly."

Unexpectedly, a bit of sadness hit Zero's young heart. He didn't realize he'd been so excited at the supposed meaning in her absentmindedly spoken words. To have a kid would be _so cool_. It would cement the fact that Zero would finally have a family of his very own again. A family that was his. A family that was perfect.

Getting back to himself, Zero shook his head in irritation, "Not exactly the best way to start a conversation, Yuki." Zero massaged his forehead. "And I don't like the name Zero Jr."

Yuki pouted. "Why not?"

A past memory of grade school flew up in Zero's mind. On one of their movie watching days, his class had watched Disney's Hercules and one of the movie's songs, "From Zero to Hero" by the Greek Muses had led to endless teasing of his name by his kid peers. For weeks on end, he had to endure that cursed song that was twisted in every possible way to rhyme with his name.

A notable line like, "Who puts the _hunt_ in vampire hunter? **_Kiryu-chan_**!" and other such nonsense made his grade-school life from that moment on a living hell.

What exactly were his parents thinking when they named him? Couldn't they have just named him Bob? At least Ichiru had a normal first name!

Zero suddenly decided to distance his thoughts of his lost brother. Those thoughts were always sad. He focused on Yuki and their odd-ball conversation.

Zero shifted his purple eyes a bit. "Zero Jr. isn't a nice name for a girl, and I want a girl to be our first child."

Yuki's brown eyes brighten. "A girl? How come? I thought men preferred boys!"

Zero smirked. "Boys are too rebellious. Plus a boy with my stubbornness and your cluelessness would be a disaster."

Yuki lightly smacked him on the shoulder. "Hey!" She defended her wounded female pride.

"Plus, a little girl would be easier to deal with." Yes, a girl would be easier to deal with indeed. Zero would be free to spoil his future daughter rotten, while Yuki would have to deal with the discipline and consequences. If Zero had a boy, he would have to teach the kid to 'be a man' and that wouldn't be as much fun.

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "I can't wait for our future daughter to be a teenager." She muttered. "And you'll see 'easier'. You'll wish you had a boy instead!"

Zero winced. Just the mere thought of his future daughter having some young crafty punk sniff around her filled him with a defensive fatherly fury that really didn't make much sense to feel right now. After all, it was far too early to even be considering having a kid, boy or girl, right now.

Zero grunted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Yuki, and they continued on with their wonderful day at the park.

However, a few weeks later, Zero had found himself looking at baby clothes and accessories more and more. There was no rhyme or reason to it and he didn't really know why that was the case. Weirdo Yuki and her weird trains of thought! It wasn't a good look for a young man like himself to pick up a pink baby rattle and seriously consider _buying it_. Or for him to look at the price of cribs and weigh the pros and cons of each design. That simply wouldn't do and if anyone had caught him, Zero knew he would have had a heart attack induced by embarrassment. If members of the Night Class had seen him, he knew his reputation of a cold-hearted jerk would forever be lost.

To see the image of ex-human vampire hunter, Zero Kiryu, holding a pink baby rattle - the shame would never **_die_**.

However, Zero didn't think it would be such a _bad_ thing if his future kid gave him a smile because of his manly sacrifice.

But Zero decided to put the pink item down. He was a practical guy after all, so he needed to do a practical thing. A man thing. Things that men do.

But what did men usually do when they learned they had a kid?

Strangely, Zero didn't really know and the thought unnerved him. His parents had Ichiru and himself nine months to the date of their wedding night. And while such..uhmm..._activity_...between Yuki and himself had..._occurred_...it wasn't impossible to imagine that could happen with Yuki and himself sooner or later or whatever.

Well, Zero wasn't one to be unprepared.

Expect the unexpected! One of the many mottos of a vampire hunter he followed ritualistically.

So, _really_, could you blame Zero for wanting to leisurely pick up (more like sneakily rushing to the front of an empty baby store checkout) a small paperback book on parenting? No, one could not blame Zero at all!

He was Zero Kiryu! A rising star in the world of vampire hunting! So, he was just being prepared and all.

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Meetings, Part I**

* * *

**Present**

Silver Night reflected.

_"Let us rest together, my love."_

A dark smile grew across his bright red lips.

His master jailor had succumbed and has been successfully infected by Silver's poisonous false love.

Victory had never felt so sweet before. Everything had fell into place. Everything had went according to plan. However, the fact that his manipulation has been so successful, despite his initial rocky start, was something that even impressed Silver himself.

That moonlight night by the cherry tree had truly cemented Silver's hidden control of his master's dark heart. His subconscious manipulations had drawn the man closer to him, and Silver's mere presence had become his addiction. After all, what person wouldn't enjoy being in the company of another soul that seemed to understand them fully? A person that understood and accepted all your faults, and fears, and pains? A soul that listen to your words and thoughts without bitter judgment or severe rebuke? A soul who only supplied one with continuous irresistible pleasure in all its variety of forms? Despite the fact that Silver didn't think the man truly realized the important step they had both taken that night in this _farce_ of a romantic relationship, Silver _knew_, and he would use this to his advantage.

Silver had gotten his hidden grip on the man's heart. Now all he had left to do was to tighten his hold.

But now, Silver could think on other things.

Other things like his only reasoning for being. Silver could now focus on his one and only true goal for his current existence. It was the only reason he kept breathing, the only purpose he had to continue on, step by slow, painful, and bloody step towards his ultimate damnation or salvation.

**To be one with his true self.**

He would discover the key that would release the self-created prison of his true self's soul.

Silver Night had visited his true self the night of the Annual Winter Ball. After his master's vicious abuse, Silver had been forced into a healing sleep and in this sleep, he had dreamed.

It was a dream he hated and loved. It was a dreamed he yearned for but truly despised. It was a dream he always had whenever such things happened. The dream always occurred when he was on the verge of dying again. He had dreamed this dream so many times before that Silver had lost count. But that didn't matter, the dream had always started out the same way.

He would always be bleeding, injured, and bitter, but Silver would first face an imposing and dark door. The dark finality of it, the surety of one's fate if one were stupid enough to open it, told Silver that this door represented one thing – his death.

Silver had always understood that if he were to open that door, he would be choosing to die.

And as always, he would sneer at that black door and said, "_Not today._"

Once again, when Silver had decided that he would live once more, the black door would always disappear and a white door would take its place.

Silver would open that door. That door represented life.

However, beyond that white door would be thousands upon thousands of pearl white steps and he would have climb them in order to get back his right to life.

So Silver would climb.

Time had no meaning in this dream world. The climbing of those white steps could have taken him hours or days or even years. Or it could have taken him minutes or seconds. There was no concept of time in the activity. Silver would just climb and at each step he took upward, he would be healed from a tell-tale wound. His dark blood would paint the lower steps, but as he stepped higher and higher, the wounds went away and the blood stop flowing.

When he reached the top step, as always, his various wounds would be completely healed.

And as always, he was to see two other doors: another white door and a golden transparent one. The white door represented Silver going back to his previous life and pitiful existence. In the end, Silver always opened that door last in his dream.

But that other door, that golden transparent door, was the door he always tried to open first.

And he never could.

That golden door was locked and the only way to open it was by having a key. A key Silver never had. A key that Silver didn't even know what it was.

Yet Silver could always see the figure trapped behind that see-through golden door.

That figure was a man who looked exactly like himself, except that he had short silver hair and a slight tattoo on the right side of his face. Chain like thorns would repeatedly cut into his flesh and hold him in place. His red blood would continuous drip because of the various wounds he always had and his pale throat was decorated with a silver collar engraved with the number zero.

And with an understanding that was soul-aching, Silver knew that this trapped man, this bleeding person, this poor creature, was his true self.

But then, Silver would always throw his bitter rage at that jailed man.

_"How long will you trap yourself within yourself, true one? How long must I endure jailor after jailor, pain after pain, blood after blood until I can truly feel? How long must I live and struggle before I can finally be complete?_" Silver would always ask these questions. He would throw them like knives, and he would ask until his lungs wheezed and his heart squeezed. All his pain, all his suffering, all his depressed sadness would always hit him at that exact moment.

Silver continued to live and struggle for this trapped creature. Silver had sacrificed so much for their combined survival, but his true self would always reply with the same answer.

"_Until my punishment is complete._" His true self responded.

And when those five incomplete words were spoken, Silver then knew he needed to leave this dark dream and return to his life's bitter reality. His reality of schemes, of manipulations, of loneliness, falsity, and of emotional emptiness.

Dark bitterness had forced him to open his eyes, but then he was met with the most unexpected of events.

He saw the face of a young adolescent girl.

While such a thing would not be considered unusual, considering his current predicament, what made this meeting even more astonishing was that her face seemed to triggered something inside him. Something Silver had no name to, but it was something _important_.

One thing was for certain, her young face triggered the memory of a dream within a dream for him.

The emotional suddenness of it overwhelmed him and that sudden emotion was what forced his oddly chosen words out of his surprised mouth, "_Your face...is glorious_." And it _**was,** _because that face triggered something inside him, he had never felt before but as of yet he didn't truly understand.

And for some strange reason he desperately wanted to see that young girl child again.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

A/N: I guess 'Outsiders' was a apt name for last chapter! It only got five reviews! LOL. I don't know if I should comfort those guys...they didn't get much love from you lovely readers! XD But anyway, the plot thickens! Thanks for reading!


	21. Chapter 20 Meetings, Part II

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Kaname secretly observed Kiryu as the young silver-haired man absentmindedly brushed the fur coat of his favorite horse, Lily.

Even at the his distance, Kaname realized that the man was irritated. Well, that was hardly an unusual emotional state for the young man – Kiryu was always irritated about something, but Kaname hadn't seen that familiar irritated scowl ever since his wedding announcement to Yuki.

Yes, a strange thing did happen. Kiryu's typically irritated and arrogant scowl had been missing in action for quite some time.

Kaname slowly walked towards Kiryu. It had been a few days after Kiryu's 'Don't be sad' conversation. When the boy had said those words, Kaname's mind had whirled at the various meaning of the man's implications. Even after Kiryu had left, Kaname had not been able to focus on his various amounts of work and plans.

Kaname remembered and repeated the memory of Kiryu's oddly spoken and disturbing words in his head time and time again.

"_Look Kuran, don't be sad." _

"_Don't be sad." _

_"Look Kaname, don't be a stranger, okay? We are going to be family soon, so don't think for a second you won't be welcome in our home."_

"_You can visit us and stay at our home as often as you like. So don't feel lonely, sad, or anything."_

Kaname's sensibilities were shocked. What exactly brought on those words? Kaname perfected the art of hiding his true emotions. He had to if he desired to survive and rule as a pureblood king. But after all his efforts to never showing his surprise, he was still shocked that Kiryu could see sadness in him.

And Kaname was sad – deep down. But in all truth, his mental state for the past few months was of quiet fury and silent rage. Those emotions were what truly fuelled his hurt and sadness. Kaname had never expected that Yuki would choose Kiryu over him. Never. Not a single thought of such a thing had crossed his mind for such a choice. Despite her close relationship with the wretched ex-human, Kaname had never really considered Kiryu a real contender for Yuki's heart, despite his knowledge of the boy's true feelings for her. Perhaps it was his pride, perhaps it was his ego, but Kaname had not expected Yuki's decision.

And while Kaname was now sure that Kiryu's oddly spoken words were probably meant to comfort him, Kaname's one moment of guilt for him had been crushed with the boy's unsaid-but-still-there implications.

Kaname would be out once those two finalized their love with their marriage.

The realization made Kaname's soul snarl.

_He would not be left behind. __**He did not want to be alone.**_

Kaname refused to accept this turn of events. He would not allow this foolish exercise to reach its full conclusion.

It was supposed to be Kaname who was to wed Yuki. It was Kaname who was to plan the wedding details with her. It was supposed to be Kaname who was to have her always by his side.

And it was going to be Kaname and Yuki in the end.

Thus, any momentary guilt Kaname had felt for Kiryu's odd words was thrown from his mind when he realized that Kiryu was stealing something he had no right to have.

And Kaname despised Kiryu for his thievery.

So, if they thought that Kaname would allow this stupidity to be accomplished, they were solely mistaken.

Furthermore, what Kaname was doing - what he was ultimately planning to do – he was doing it for their own benefit as well.

Yuki just didn't understand and Kaname didn't think she would even try to understand if he explained it to her. Yuki had lived far too long as a human, she had been coddled and didn't truly understand her true nature, but Kaname understood, and thus he would not allow this foolishness - this farce of a relationship - this stupid and witless diversion to be completed.

Kiryu may have been valuable to her now, but he would soon be gone. Even if that 'soon' would be centuries – Kiryu would eventually be lost to her. She could not stop it. What were centuries when one could live for a thousand millennias? Kiryu, the nobles, humans – their lives and ages would soon be passed through the pages of time. Purebloods were ageless. Purebloods had no other equal but another Pureblood. What Yuki was doing, to bid herself to a creature that was a stable as ashes was pure foolishness. She just wouldn't get it.

And Kiryu probably wouldn't get it either.

On the other hand, Kaname also wanted to punish the boy for having the sheer audacity to take something that he didn't have a right to even think about, much less to have.

Yet as he approached Kiryu from behind, Kaname was suddenly hit with an intense feeling of doubt as to the rightness of his murderous course. Yuki was right. Kiryu did have a naive gentleness to him when he thought no one was around to see. The way he cared for his pet horse spoke volumes of his inner character.

Kaname viciously crushed those small feelings of dark doubt.

Kiryu paused in his brushing hand. He finally noticed Kaname's presence by a distant tree. Kaname mildly wondered if Zero's instincts had any indication of Kaname's murderous thoughts.

Surprised purple eyes meet quiet brown ones, and they silently stared at each other. Kiryu nodded his head at him in greeting, and then he went back to brushing his horse's hair. The movement wasn't as smooth as it was before, however.

Kaname looked at Kiryu for a moment and openly studied his form. In one of his back pockets, Kaname noticed that it contained a small rolled-up paperback book. Either it was his curiosity or just a means to start a conversation, Kaname asked, 'What is that book about?"

Kiryu's eyes widen at Kaname's sudden question, but then unexpectedly, he shifted his eyes a bit in embarrassment. For some strange reason, Kaname thought Kiryu's embarrassment was... appealing. "It's just a book I'm reading." Kiryu huffed and refocused his attentions to Lily the horse.

Kaname raised an elegant eyebrow. Small talk with the boy was so frustrating. "What is the book about?"

Zero turned away from him and amazingly his neck seemed to flush an even brighter red. "It's a book about parenting."

Kaname's thoughts had viciously focused. Of all the things to read. It was almost like the boy was tempting his destruction. How dare he even have thoughts of such a thing! "Why would you be reading something like that now? Surely, you can't be planning to have children so soon." Kaname kept his deep voice cultural, controlled, and neutral.

Kiryu pressed his lips together. "Kids happen when you least expect it. My parents had my brother and I exactly nine months after they got married. That might happen to us, and I want to be prepared." Kiryu's words were causal, but his position was defensive. Kaname studied Kiryu for a moment. Kiryu hadn't made any sudden movements, but there was a sense that he involuntary thought Kaname was a threat to his unborn children or something.

A threat to his unborn children...

Kaname's dark-brown eyes blackly flashed. His mind spinning at the different possibilities.

_It couldn't be..._

Vampire men were always the first to know if their female mate was pregnant. It was an evolutionary defensive system that vampires had that aided them to protect their progeny from harm and rival competitors/predators.

However, Kiryu, despite his new acceptance of his vampire state, still didn't fully recognize or understand the nature of his vampirism and the boy was too pig-headed enough not to want to learn it. Such was his immaturity.

But Kiryu was preparing for the unintentional state of his future fatherhood? He was? And now?

Kaname's heart blackened. If there was any doubt before of his course, Kaname knew it was destroyed due to his newest discovery.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: Meeting, Part II **

* * *

**Present **

Prince Haruka Kuran loudly dropped his suitcase and stared bitterly at his bedroom palace. The trip on the private jet was uneventful. Well, other than Juri's mindless grooming habits, which annoyed Haruka to no end, the trip had been peaceful.

Haruka had immediately wanted to confront his father with his newfound revelations. He wanted to confirm everything in a peaceful and mature manner.

But his father had completely blown him off.

Again.

Sure, Butler Rio had said it was because his father wanted to focus on his current work and business. But Haruka had learned in his earlier years that when his father wanted to 'focus on his current work' it was code for 'You aren't worth my time, Haruka. Go do something to make me proud and thus _worth_ my time.'

And this was the man who had given Haruka life. Haruka wasn't sure, but he didn't think his father was doing parenting right. Well, in terms of him, at least. Juri seemed to get all the time and attention she wanted from their father. Even without trying to do anything. Even when she failed him miserably. Even when she didn't really need or want father's pure attention.

His life was really unfair.

But Haruka wasn't about to throw himself a pity party. He was a Kuran. Kurans solve problems. Kurans created solutions. Kurans did not allow anything to stop them from getting to their goal.

And currently, Haruka's new goal was to confront the silver-haired man who was trying to destroy his relatively peaceful family.

Haruka decided to ready himself.

* * *

Silver Night looked at his master's private gym.

To say that it was a private gym seemed absolutely ludicrous.

After the day his master had decided to stay in Silver's room to rest during the day, instead of returning to his own like he usually did with his routine, Silver knew there was another fundamental shift in their relationship. And one of those changes was the fact that Silver was now free to leave his room and explore the various areas of his master's private palace.

Silver had been free to explore the various areas of his master's personal domain, and it was a refreshing change to say the least. For nearly two months, Silver had been struck in his bedroom. So walking around again was a highly special treat for him. His master had allowed him free range, except for his own personal bedroom and private study, Silver was free to go where ever he wished during his master-less moments.

Silver discovered many things about his master because of this newly bestowed privilege.

The first thing was that his master truly was a lonely and impersonal man. Silver had seen cages that seemed more lived-in than his master's private palace. The entire palace was spotless and clean, but that was not so difficult to maintain if there weren't much things to clean in the first place.

In essence, the design of the entire palace could be described in three plain words: stark, cold, and efficient.

The second thing Silver learned was that his tactic of changing the design of his room had been an unexpectedly highly beneficial move on his part. Silver had redecorated his room for two reasons. The first reason was that he needed his master to emotionally disassociate his past evil actions against Silver with his present interaction with him. If his master had come back to Silver's room exactly how he had left it that painful Winter Ball night, Silver knew that the memory of this master's guilty shame would have driven him to an unwanted action so that his master could defend his inner ego. Silver hadn't really understood what the man needed back then, but Silver had bet that it was better for him to recreate the room and distant the thoughts of those dangerous memories as much of possible. And it worked. It worked marvelously well.

The second reason he had redecorated the room was because that room was Silver's only battleground. The environment is a key issue to any battle a commander decided to wage and make no mistake about it – the art of seduction was truly a game of war. A mental war of the most personal of kind – a war for the heart.

Silver had organized and embellished the room to be exactly what he needed it to be for him to employ his various seductive tactics. He designed the room to be a close-by daily escape for his master. A place of fantasy and pleasure. A place of happiness and joy and freedom.

A place that only had the two of them.

Silver had realized his seductive tactic had been truly effective when his master had repeatedly come to his room every night without missing a beat. At first, it had alarmed him, because Silver didn't want the man to become too saturated with his illusion. He had thought that if his master had gotten too use to this form of pleasure, he would have quickly lost his interest in him, and Silver would have been backed to square one.

But after a while, Silver realized that his newest master wasn't so much saturated with his illusions, but in actuality, he seemed to be desperately starved for them. Almost to the point that he wanted more and more of them. Silver adjusted his tactics to accompany this unexpected discovery.

Nevertheless, when Silver compared the design of his room with the rest of his palace – it wasn't really a wonder anymore as it why that simple technique had been so effective. When his master stepped into Silver's room, he must have felt like he was transported to another world all together.

Honestly, Lady Luck was a fickle woman.

Silver spent much of his new-found privilege time in his master's personal library and outside garden. In the library, Silver had also discovered that his master had a love of history and languages. There were hundreds of books dedicated to the history of various cultures throughout the world. Silver would have to study these books. After all, it would be to his benefit, if Silver could carry on more intellectual exchanges with the man.

While carnal pleasure was a powerful weapon against a male victim, for Silver to rely on his physical and sexual appeal only was a foolish and useless tactic in the long run. The two genders were never so different in this regard, and it was a lesson many women had not really learned or fully appreciated. Men aren't bonded with sex. They may be grateful for it. They may highly enjoy it. But for it to bond them? No. Unlike women, sex was more a physical need that needed to be check off from time to time to a man. For women, sex was more of an emotional expression of love and commitment. Thus, when a woman slept with you, she was giving her entire heart and self. However, when a man slept with you, he was only giving you want he thought you earned and deserved. It was why a man was able to sleep with a mirage of other people and could still claim that his heart only belonged to 'one'. Men are notoriously secretive with their true emotions. And while there could be a lot to be debated about such actions, Silver had learned this harsh lesson of difference though many painful decades.

Therefore, Silver threw himself into learning interesting facts of stories throughout history. He put what he learned away in his long-term memory. He would use this information at the right time to entertain his master.

But for now, he had come to the gym.

It was early evening, but Silver hadn't sensed his master anywhere in or near his private palace. It could only be that the man was off doing whatever Vampires Kings needed to do at the moment.

Silver stretched his muscles. But for now, he was going to relax his busy mind. Silver was really due for a good workout, and the activity would relax him.

* * *

Haruka somehow got into his father's private palace.

Haruka needed to make a mental note of this. Sneaking into his father's private palace shouldn't be this easy. Well, that wasn't exactly true. Getting into the Kuran Palace Multiplex in the first place was a fool's dream. If you weren't invited or had a reason to be there, your life was forfeited. Father had mercilessly ended the lives of those he found somewhat 'annoying', so intruders didn't stand a chance.

But once Haruka realized that he wasn't about to be flung into his father's personal torture chamber for trespassing, Haruka decided to march toward the concubine chambers and calmly confront the enemy of his family.

Without any guile, Haruka opened the door to the concubine's chamber.

Haruka blinked.

_He felt like he was seeing another world. _

Before him was an exotic realm that Haruka's young mind couldn't full grasp but wanted to urgently explore and –

Haruka shut the door suddenly. He frowned at his previous train of thought. Now was not the time to be distracted by odd...things.

But one thing was for certain, the home-wreaker wasn't there.

And Haruka was far from pleased.

So, door by door, Haruka opened. He was going to find this person if it was the last thing he did tonight.

After some time, Haruka came upon his father's private gym. He opened it irately and the first thing he heard was the sound of running treadmill – with a person running on it. A person with long silver hair. A person with moonlight skin.

At the sound of the door opening, the man suddenly stopped his activity and turned to face the opened gym door. There was a quick look of sheer surprise and confusion aimed at Haruka, but Haruka's mind had decided to become blank.

A sort of blankity, blank-blank.

Truthfully, Haruka had thought he would be able to handle his situation calmly and maturely. He was a Kuran after all. But suddenly, he really didn't feel like he wanted to be civil. A fury for his mother. A fury at his father. And a fury for himself suddenly consumed him.

Haruka stared at the handsome man who wiped the sweat of his workout from his forehead. The man walked towards him carefully, but he said nothing to Haruka. It was like the man was studying him or waiting for his reaction.

Well, Haruka was going to give him a reaction.

Haruka stood before him and stared the man straight in the eye. Curious purple-gray orbs latched on to his silently wrathful brown ones. There was a quiet second between them.

Haruka broke it.

"You home-wreaking son of a bitch!" He angrily hissed.

And Haruka punched the silverette man in the face.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Thou shall not kill the writer-woman! XD If so, the story will never be finished! ;D Anyway, the plot is starting to pick up now. Thanks for reading and please leave a lovely review! I do wonder at the reactions! :)


	22. Chapter 21 Meetings, Part III

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Kaname dropped Yuki off earlier in the day at the Grand Beach Hotel Spa. It had taken much time and patience (by Kaname), weird arguments (from Yuki), and bribery (from the wedding planner), to get Zero to agree on having a beach wedding.

Zero's arguments against such a thing had been **_so lame_**.

"_I don't like beach air. Too salty." _

"_What if the seagulls' poop on our guests?" _

"_The sand would make everything dirty." _

After a while of united effort, Zero finally agreed to it. But Yuki had a small gut feeling that Zero was only being difficult because he liked irritating and teasing their sometimes stuck-up wedding planner.

Kaname and Yuki had ridden together in Kaname black luxury car for the trip up to the hotel. They talked about various of things, but they fell into silence. Suddenly, Kaname looked at her surreptitiously.

"Rough Bachelorette Party yesterday?" He asked momentarily.

Yuki closed her eyes. "I saw things, I don't ever want to see again."

Sayori Wakaba and her older sister Yayoi Wakaba! It couldn't be that her quiet friend was actually the female version of Aido in disguise, could it? Never would Yuki looked at her best human friend the same way again! And Seiren! Who knew she could even dance? Much less take and be the lead to Beyonce's Single Ladies iconic dance routine? Rima Touya had been a happy drunk throughout the night and had caused _so_ much trouble and Yuki thought she saw Ruka grow seven gray hairs that very night.

It was fun!

Kaname laughed lowly, and they continued their car trip on to the hotel in peaceful sibling company.

When she saw Kaname's car, in the distance, Yuki had turned around and was surrounded by ten tall women in cute white spa uniforms. Her wedding planner had looked at Yuki like she was a piece of meat about to be devoured.

Yuki's tongue was swallowed.

After seven hours of spa and beauty treatments (Yuki had been waxed, shaved, tweezed, massaged, exfoliated, hands and feet scrubbed, been pedicured and manicured; had her hair wash, cut, dyed, blow-dried, flat-ironed, and had various long hair extensions put in. Yuki wondered how the more superficial of her gender actually dealt with such things weekly!), Yuki looked at herself in the mirror.

_Who in the world was that?_

She didn't recognize herself!

It was the first-time Yuki had worn any real amount of makeup.

Yuki had dabbled in makeup when she was a kid but being a girl in a household of two males didn't exactly make it likely that she would learn any feminine arts. Zero would probably have snickered at her poor attempts, and Yuki really didn't want to think of the level Papa Cross would descend too if Yuki had ever hinted that she wanted to learn how to use makeup.

So, Yuki taught herself the sad makeup basic of mascara application and lip gloss.

But now, she looked at herself in the mirror again.

Wow.

She was breathtaking beautiful now.

Yuki never thought she was ugly, per say, but she didn't think much of her looks, especially when compared to someone like Ruka or Rima. What an insanely handsome guy like Zero saw in her, Yuki would be forever clueless but equally forever grateful for. Plain Old Clueless Tomboy Yuki somehow got the Silver-Haired Knightly Adonis to love her.

Miracles happen.

No one knew it, but Yuki wasn't as secure as she pretended to be sometimes. In some-odd moments, Yuki would look at the others and compare her to them and the more she did that, the she felt more unworthy for Zero's gentle and loyal love. Ruka's beauty was like a distant but beautiful ice princess. Rima's beauty had a fiery mischievous innocence to it. Even Seiren's beauty was a wonder to behold, she embodied steadfastness and happily given service. Sayori's beauty was like a quiet candle, it seemed out of place at noon, but come midnight it was all you could see.

But did Miss Yuki Cross-Kuran and soon-to-be Mrs. Yuki Kiryu have a beauty that was worthy for someone like Zero? Yuki huffed to herself. Heck, even Kaname looked better beside Zero then herself sometimes!

But when Yuki looked in the mirror at her complete beauty transformation, she thought that maybe, just maybe, she really was worthy for being chosen to stay forever by Zero's side.

Yuki looked like a innocent and beautifully angelic bride at that moment. Everything was perfect. All her faults were hidden. All her unique facial traits were highlighted.

When Zero saw her coming down the aisle in the next two hours, Yuki wondered if he would faint from shock. Yuki could barely contained her excitement! Wasn't he going to be _so_ surprised?

One hour passed.

Kaname had come to her and smiled and said that Zero was on his way.

The excitement in Yuki's heart nearly burst with unconstrained glee. She would not cry for joy, she did _not_ want to ruin what she looked like. She asked the makeup artist to refresh her look. She wanted to be perfect when Zero first saw her.

_Two hours passed. _

Zero had yet to come.

**Three hours passed.**

_Where was Zero?_ Yuki's mind panicked. _Why wasn't Zero showing up?_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One: Meetings, Part III**

* * *

**Present**

Silver mentally hissed. This rebellious and rude punk kid! How dare he simply attack him for some faulty reason?

It was a sad fact that Silver could not harm his master/jailor. The Doll spells and enchantments prevented him from doing so, even when Silver had desperately tried in the past. But while Silver could not hurt his master directly due to these accursed Doll bonds, these restrictions did not extend to others.

As the same time, it was extremely rare for a Doll to know how to fight and engage in a physical battle, but Silver made himself an exception to the rule. The world of vampires was a dangerous one, and he would not die because of some foolish non-master attacks. Silver could only hope that his hidden skills of combat would not be looked upon as unfavorable to Master Kaname. If the man did not like the fact that Silver could fight, much of Silver's hard work and planning would have been for nothing.

All because of a rude little punk of a kid!

What type of young idiot would hit first without understanding the complete situation?

_That seems like me._ A small rare voice that was not his own revealed itself. Silver was so shocked by the out-of-place revelation of his true self that he got another punch in the stomach from this punch-happy brat. Clenching his stomach more in surprise than pain, Silver glared at his young attacker.

Who was this brat anyway?

The dark-haired teen pulled back his arm to swing another punch aimed at his chest. Silver rushed forward and grabbed the teen boy's right wrist twisted it to the left, slipped behind the boy's guard and locked his trapped hand behind his back. Silver took his other arm and wrapped it around the boy's throat with a chocking hold.

The boy wildly struggled from his gripped and tried to get away. Each movement only made Silver's hold stronger.

Biting back his anger, Silver said, "Why did you just attack me, child? Do you know who I am? And whom I belong to? Do you wish to face my master's wrath?"

The teen did not seem to be listening to him. He continued to fight him. "You scheming bastard!" Well, Silver was a schemer. But a bastard? He wouldn't know but it was always a possibility.

"I hate you for hurting my mother!" Hurt his mother? Silver's mind wildly considered the possibility that this child was a spawn of one of his ex-jailors, but he had not had a mistress for sixty years. Silver had been owned by many -_ too many_ - male masters, but of female mistresses, he only had three. One was a completely evil bitch. The second killed for him. The third and last had died in his arms.

A flash of memory. _"I'm so sorry I couldn't free you, Silver." The old woman said tiredly._

Silver's grip on the boy had stupidly loosened at that quick and painful memory of those dying whispered words.

His young attacker felt the weakness and quickly spun his body to throw Silver over his shoulder. Silver's body flew through the air and meet the harden wooden floor of his master's private gym with a heavy thump. He was suddenly on top of Silver's damp chest crouched on all four limbs - trapping him.

"I hate you for trying to take my father away from us! You should die!" The young teen furiously hissed at him.

Without thinking, Silver reached up and grabbed the teen by the throat. The movement felt unnatural at that precise angle but he ignored the slight pain. "And I will!" Silver hissed back.

But Silver was still held down to the ground by the teen. Silver marveled. The child was strong. Far too strong to be a common vampire and perhaps stronger than a noble. Silver looked into the eyes of the teen and saw the blinking warning of dark crimson irises with an extremely familiar face.

This child was a pureblood.

Silver's quick mind started putting everything together. A young pureblood child in his master's palace was attacking him because he thought he hurt his mother? Master Kaname was the only pureblood master Silver every had, so that meant that his boy was his master's son. During their many post-coital small talks, his new master had mentioned having a family. A wife, a daughter, and a son. Out of the three, his master had spoke more of his daughter, Juri. And there were some passive-aggressive comments about his son and heir, Haruka.

But about his wife, his master made no mention.

Such an obvious missing piece of information. Silver had deduced that there was some kind of quarrel going on between his master and his wife. In fact, that was what drove his master to violently rape him that Winter Ball Night. Silver had done the needed damage control to erase but not truly remove that long ago event and he had also been able to use the experience as a powerful subconscious weapon against the man who now owned him. However, Silver knew that this quarrel his master had with his wife was not yet over. After all, if she had been available or close by, Silver did not think his master would have visited him so often in such a short amount of time. She had to be gone, and that was all good and well for Silver.

Rivals for affection were tricky and tough to deal with. And the woman was a rival to Silver for his master's attention, and thus she was something of an enemy to him, even though Silver's intentions towards his master weren't really sincere.

However, the boy lessen his hold due to his confusion at Silver's oddly chosen three words. Thus, Silver needed to focus on his current situation.

Silver realized that his attacker in all likelihood was his master's own son – Haruka Kuran.

Of all that could go wrong!

Even if Silver wanted to murder the young fool for attacking him, Silver couldn't do it because the young fool was his master's spawn! The boy had blinked and looked down at Silver in confusion. "You're going to die?" Silver wondered if he was dealing with a mentally challenged child. Silver's hand was still holding onto the boy's pale throat. If Silver had been anyone else with less to lose...

Silver felt the right side of his face swell due to the boy's well-aimed first punch and a wicked headache was starting to form at the back of his head. Silver's eyebrow wanted to twitch in sheer irritation.

"You're father is my master. He will decide when I die." Silver said gently, but his lips nearly curled with the lie. Only when Hell made ski riding passes would Silver allow that! He was not going to die until he decided it! However, the boy's eyes widen with even more innocent confusion. Silver decided to take a risky gamble. He removed his hand from the boy's throat and gently placed his hand on the boy's right cheek. The young male teen's brown eyes widen even further at the intimate gesture.

The teen seemed to struggle inside himself. It was like he didn't know if he should pull away from such a gentle gesture or fall more deeply into it. Silver's dark heart crowed. _Ah. I know what to do._

"You have nothing to lose because of me, my dear son." Silver whispered to him tenderly. The tone of his deep voice was almost fond – loving even. The teen seemed so shocked by his words that he couldn't pull away.

But his words! His words! His words were such a dark lie. Silver knew the boy may lose much because of him. Silver had destroy many families units in the past and this little twisted family was probably going to be his newest prey.

Silver made an even bolder move, now that he was sure he knew what this child needed to hear from him. He gently guided the boy's head closer to him. Silver noted that sheer foolishness of the kid. If Silver had been a 'real' enemy, Silver could have killed him by now.

"And...you have much to gain." Silver whispered hotly into the boy's ear. The deep tone of his voice hinted of the wildly forbidden and...the passionately pleasurable. The vampire teen shivered at the contact of Silver's hot breath. Silver absently wonder if he should push further. He could and he -

Butler Rio suddenly made his presence known with a loud cough.

* * *

Butler Rio could not believe his eyes.

The young prince had tried to harm his father's new bedmate.

It was known throughout the Far Eastern Court that the young heir was a good fighter, despite the fact that he had yet to fully mature into his pureblood powers. Thus, the Doll, Silver Night, should have been torn apart by the child. Yet, amazingly, he was able to hold himself against the Kuran heir.

But now it seemed that the young Kuran had Silver pinned. Despite the fact that Silver had his hand around the boy's neck, Rio knew it wasn't squeezing or chocking the king's heir. Rio was torn. He did not know if that was a good thing or bad thing! If the heir was hurt, Rio didn't think his King would look pass it. But neither did Rio think his King would care for his heir to harm his newest bedmate.

Bedmate.

In truth, Rio didn't really know how to refer to Silver as. Sure, Silver was a Doll, a sexual vampire slave of the lowest social value, but even Rio knew that wasn't quite all there was to the young man. During these five weeks, Rio had privately researched about the Number One Doll, Silver Night, and Rio wasn't sure what to think about the young man anymore.

Either the rumors and tales had been highly exaggerated or...the royal family may just have invited a truly dangerous and deadly incubus into their own home.

Rio didn't know what to think. The man remained him so much of his late Megumi that it frightened him. He hoped that story was not about to be repeated.

Yet still, many questions remained. Why was Prince Haruka here? How did he learn of Silver Night's presence in this father's domain? Heck! How did the boy even know of Silver? How exactly had the boy gotten into his father's palace in the first place? How was it possible for Silver to hold his own against a vampire of such power? And what was he, Rio, suppose to do?

Rio watched as the boy pinned the older man down and trap him with his body. After a few words, Silver stopped his 'chocking' and reached up and cupped the boy's cheek with his hand. Rio's eyes widen at the gesture. That...was a strange reaction.

"You have nothing to lose because of me, my dear son." Rio listened to the soft words. _Silver really was a gentle thing._ Rio suddenly thought.

Apparently, such a thought was too soon. Silver then pulled the young heir closer to him and brought his lips close to the prince's ear. He said something and Rio couldn't quite make out what he said, but the physical reaction from the prince made it clear that whatever Silver had said was far from innocent.

Rio had to stop...whatever was happening! He didn't like the feel of it! So he loudly coughed.

It was like a bucket of ice cold water was dropped on the two young males.

Nothing like the cough of an old geezer to break up the tension. Rio cleared his throat, "Prince Haruka, will you please remove yourself from the King's Personal," And here Rio struggled for a right word but he couldn't really find one that really fit, "Doll." Rio said lamely.

"Doll?" Haruka asked and gave him a perplexed look.

Rio wished lightening would strike him. He didn't really want to discuss the details of _that_ with him like _this_. The boy was still on top of the older young man but his hands loosen their tight hold in his workout shirt. Rio could see a slight swelling of a red bruise on Silver's right cheek. Oh dear! Hopefully that will heal soon!

"Please, Prince Haruka, release him." Rio continued. "If you don't then the King might–"

And without warning a bucket of ice water went down _Rio's_ back. Rio recognized the feeling immediately.

The unpolluted infuriated power vibrations of a angry Pureblood Vampire King.

King Kaname Kuran suddenly appeared beside him. His young daughter was a few steps after him. The King took in the sight before him. _His son was pinning his bruised bedmate to the cold wooden gym ground._

Rio felt like crying for the lad.

The King looked _so_ furious. "Please continue what you were saying, Butler Rio." His King glared blackly at his son.

"I would like some _**suggestions**_." King Kuran hissed.

**To be Continued **

* * *

A/N: I've come down with a bit of a sickness, my lovely readers. So, I don't think I'll be posting much in the following week or two. Plus I've got an important exam coming up! So, my updates may be really slow. So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and story so far! Thanks for reading and please leave your lovely thoughts in a review! :)


	23. Chapter 22 Meetings, Part VI

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Zero Kiryu opened his ratty apartment door and invited Kaname Kuran into his home.

Usually, his apartment was spotless and clean, but today, on his wedding day no less, it looked like a tornado had stopped by to visit. Zero really could care less about the mess. He was about to be married off to the girl he loved in about five hours.

Yes, in _five_ hours he was going to be married.

In five hours, he, _Zero Kiryu_ was going to be married to _Yuki Cross-Kuran_.

Miracles were happening!

Zero hadn't been so happy and excited in his entire life. So who cared about the mess of his apartment now?

Well, Kuran apparently.

Kuran stared at Zero's messy apartment. He had been to his place a few times before, but Zero knew that the guy had never seen it in such a confused state before. Zero scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. To distract himself, Zero hastily said, "Thanks for being my stand-in best man, Kuran."

Kuran raised his dark eyebrow. "I'm sure if we put the wedding off for an hour, Hunter Yagari could make it." He airily suggested.

Zero waved his hand and turned his back to him. "Naw. The old geezer just called and said he would arrive at the location somewhere before the vows. The Hunter's Association needed him urgently for something today." Zero sighed and then gave Kuran a light playful smile. "But between you and me, I have this weird feeling that he's going to shout 'I object' just to piss me off."

Kuran gave him a blank stare as he held his dry-cleaned wedding outfit. Zero sighed again to himself.

He really needed to get some relatable friends.

"Let's get dress." He hurried into his bedroom. His medium-sized bed was the only thing that was neat in his apartment, and that was because it showcased his brand new white wedding tuxedo.

It was a classic two-button style with a notch lapel. It was made of pure white silk and had matching trousers with an adjustable waist. There was a standard golden stripe down the side of the pants legs and he was going to wear a pale baby blue silk tie and matching shoes. He also had an expensive set of silver-gold cuff links that would match his silver-gold earring chokers perfectly.

He started getting ready.

Zero knew that his wedding planner was going to have a heart attack when she saw his earrings later today. She had lightly expressed that she didn't want him to wear them because it would make him seem too 'dangerous' or thug-like. But Zero was going to completely annoy her and wear them anyway. After all, Yuki was the one who had given it to him as their personal engagement day gifts to each other. However, for some strange reason, Zero found that he liked playing the difficult groom ("You're something like a groomzilla, Zero." Yuki had once teased.) and his wedding planner was so fun to tease.

She strongly reminded Zero of his late mother. He wondered if his mother would huff and puff over him like the middle-aged wedding planner had.

Zero paused in his thoughts. He had no living blood family to see this day with him. His mother, his father, and his brother would not see him on this day. That realization hurt. Zero really was the last member of the Kiryu Clan. If he died, there would be no more Kiryus left in this world.

That realization had forced Kiryu to come to a painful decision, but today was going to be a happy one. Zero dismissed his sad thoughts and finished dressing himself.

He looked in his mirror.

His manly ego puffed itself.

_Whoa. Who is that manly stud? **Zero Kiryu**_**.**

Zero always knew he was a good-looking guy. It wasn't something he really cared much about, but he was aware that people would often stop to gawk at him like he was poster whenever he walked down the street. His good looks weren't exactly useful for a vampire hunter, but while he found his good looks annoying many times, Zero was secretly amused at the reactions he got from it.

Sorry ladies of the world, this one is being taken off the market today!

Kuran knocked on his bedroom door. "Are you ready, Kiryu?"

"Yeah." Zero walked back into his living room and looked around for his watch on the small living room table. "Have you seen my watch?" Kuran was fully dressed in his wedding outfit. As usual, the man looked like an elite model. How Kuran could be lean and tall, yet be stronger than one million vampire bodybuilders was something Zero would never understand. Crummy vampires and their deceptively soft looks!

Kuran shook his head and watched him as he rushed around the room searching for it. "Never mind, I got it." Zero called out.

"Do you have everything? Like the rings and your gun?" Kaname asked unperturbedly. "I don't think we have the time to turn around if we forget anything."

Zero nodded his head but he checked himself over. Clothes. Check. Rings. Check. Watch. Check.

His gun: Bloody Rose? Not check.

Today was a new start and a new beginning. He'd informed Yagari of his final decision, but today was the first day to enact his new position.

Zero shook his head. "I'm not bringing my gun with me today."

Kuran blinked at him rapidly. "That is...not like you."

Zero gave him a light smile. "Yeah, I know. But weapons sorta dampen the mood, and I want this day to be one of my happiest."

"You are aware that vampires will be present at the wedding location?" Kuran said. Zero didn't know what amused him more. The fact that Kuran seemed so surprised that Zero didn't have Bloody Rose glued to him or the fact that Zero would go anywhere near vampires without a weapon.

"I doubt anything will happen Kuran." Zero wirily intoned. "After all, you'll be there." It was a hit to Zero's manly pride to admit that. While Zero wasn't a teddy bear and could be damn scary when he wanted to be, Zero knew he didn't have the inherent skill to put fear in the hearts of people like Kuran naturally had. If nothing else, Kuran's presence at their wedding was the type of security all the money in the world couldn't buy.

However, Kuran looked like he had turned into stone.

Zero started at Kuran for a moment. His hunter instincts were roaring, for some reason, but Zero put them out of his mind. He had decided weeks ago that he would trust and care for this weird, scary, but lonely person. Kuran was a tough guy, and he was a powerful one. But loneliness was something that could hurt even the strongest of foes. Just because Kuran was a standoffish, egotistical jerk, didn't mean that the man was completely evil or heartless or anything.

Zero friendly patted Kuran's right shoulder as he walked towards the exit."This is the only time you will ever hear me compliment your power, Kuran." Zero gave his soon-to-be brother-in-law an ironic smile. "You're a powerful and scary guy, but at least you are on my side, eh?"

Something flashed through Kaname's dark-brown eyes that moment. It was like the man didn't even know what to say. Zero shook his head, let go of Kuran's stiff shoulder, and picked up his car keys.

"Let's go, Kaname." Zero said and opened his apartment door before Kuran could say anything. Clearly, the guy was self-conscious or something.

Zero opened his front door.

The bright afternoon sun hit his purple eyes, and Zero winced. It was a very bright and cloudless day. The air was not too hot or not too cool. That was good! The beach location of their wedding would probably be a bit cooler, though. He ambled to his small car and opened the door. However, at least their wedding will have no fear of rain or –

Zero's vampire hunter instincts _screamed_.

It was so sudden - nine Level C Vampire men and one scarred noble surrounded him around his car.

The noble vampire man had an ugly scar that took up the entire right side of his would-have-been handsome face. The unknown man smiled at him evilly.

"Get him."

_**There was no time to think.**_

Zero Kiryu, ex-human vampire hunter, suddenly found himself in a battle for his very life.

He had no weapons but his teeth, fists, and legs and he employed everything he had. There was no time to think. He was being attacked from all sides and his hunter's mind threw out his shocked fear and focused itself on get him to a place of safety.

Zero punched. Zero kicked. Zero chocked and spit and hissed and clawed and gnawed. He dodged and flipped. He moved with such a lightning speed that even he wasn't aware he possessed.

And on and on and on he fought.

He fought because somehow he knew, deep down inside himself, that if he didn't, his life and future happiness would be lost to him forever.

And on and on and on he fought.

Soon, six of the men who had attacked him were not moving, but the sole noble was unharmed because he hadn't stepped in to fight him yet. However, the man was watching him with a hunger that scared Zero more than the enemies he was currently hitting. Nevertheless, the remaining three Level C vampires were backing away from his reach and eying him warily. Zero guessed they regretfully knew he wasn't as easy as they originally thought he was.

But in this one quiet moment of his desperate struggle, Zero had now realized one important thing.

_Kaname Kuran was not helping him. _

Zero's white wedding suit was torn and bloody. It was barely hanging onto his ragged and wounded body. Zero had broken his right hand and his left arm and leg was throbbing. His right eye had been pierced and blood was obscuring his vision. He was dizzy with massive amounts of blood lost and his hands were drenched with blood, sweat, and spit.

But Kaname Kuran just stood there at his apartment door and silently watched as Zero fought desperately for his life.

Zero was incredulous.

No. It wasn't possible. Kuran couldn't..._Kuran wouldn't_...Kaname just wasn't like that...

Zero tried to walk towards him. _It wasn't possible._ Zero still couldn't believe what his mind and soul were telling him.

Zero reached toward him with a bloody hand. "Help me, Kaname."

Yet, Kuran took a revolted step back. "And allow you to have my happiness? Never." He cruelly said.

Zero's gentle heart felt like it was being torn to shreds at that moment.

Zero had believed in him. Zero had actually stared to care about that man. _**Zero had actually trusted this monster of a person. **_

_It was impossible._

The last thing Zero's eyes saw of Kaname Kuran was his victorious dark smile.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two: Meeting, Part VI **

* * *

**Present**

King Kaname Kuran was puzzled.

Puzzlement did not fit a Kuran well.

Kaname found himself in the unlikeable position of not understanding his various close relationships.

His Chief Butler had just informed him that his children would arrive in the palace within a few hours. Kaname had been taken completely by surprise by such an change of pace, and he was somewhat unsure of what he wanted to do or needed to do.

_What exactly is Yuki thinking?_ Kuran pondered to himself. Even as he looked at his paperwork, he had no clue as to what went on in the mind of that maddening woman. Their last meeting at the Winter Annual Ball a few weeks ago did not end in the best of ways. Well, to be completely honest, that meeting had been a disaster. He didn't feel so furious and humiliated in decades. Leave it to her to be able to get inside his iron skin in such a frighteningly simple way.

_Second Choice_. The words still burned him. _He was her second choice._ Even now, his kingly pride bared its lethal fangs and snarled at her disgusting insult.

Nevertheless, on that wretched night, Kaname had intended to reveal to Yuki that he had her 'first' choice under his complete domination. He had intended to manipulate the woman back into his closed control, but her insults had distracted him from his intended goal and had actual made Kaname –

Kaname distanced himself from his thinking. His thoughts were leading him to a place he didn't feel like contemplating right now.

Yuki had left his reach that night and Kaname had not been able to enact his plan. And then everything – absolutely everything in his life - went through the wormhole.

Kaname was having sex with Yuki's past love.

Not only was he having sex - but hot, passionate, numerous, and intensely pleasurable sex. But it wasn't just the sex, that put him on the edge. Kaname had recently realized that he was actually forming some type of possessive attachment to Yuki's first love choice and his old rival enemy.

The idea of it was so incredible that even Kaname was not sure how that had happened.

In Kaname's rational mind, he knew he was forming a surprising but powerfully possessive attachment to Silver Night, who was in actuality, Zero Kiryu – Yuki's first love. Kaname didn't even know how the _hell_ that happened. And he briefly wondered if he was in some sick dream.

He was sleeping, having sex, fucking – whatever you wanted to call it - with the man whom he had once tried to murder.

Yes, it was true. Kaname would not deny it now or lie to himself about what he did so long ago. Kaname did, in fact, contracted Kiryu's death.

The plan was simple. While Yuki had been a rather innocent and trustful creature back then, even Kaname knew that she wasn't an idiot. When Kaname had heard of Yuki's confession of her love for the ex-human, the first instinct of Kaname was to go out and merciless murder the teen boy. His beginning darkness was so strong, even at the start. However, Kaname's rationality won and he knew that if he had done so, Yuki would never have forgiven him and would have sworn revenge. It was the nature of purebloods and Kaname wasn't about to lose the thing he had waited for so patiently over his existence, just because of his wild emotional passion. Therefore, Kaname's hands could not have the pleasure of being painted with Kiryu's dead blood. If Yuki were to be his, he would have to be murdered by the hands of someone else.

So, Kaname planned Kiryu's kidnapping and murder very well.

Kaname knew that if Kiryu had died so soon after Kiryu and Yuki had gotten together, Kaname would have been the prime suspect of the investigation. So, in order to prevent suspicion, he forced himself to help them in their wedding preparations. He even went so far as to pretend to be happy at their soon-coming union. He had perfect his act well because neither of the two ever suspected him until it was too late. Therefore, Kamane had allowed Yuki and Kiryu a few months together before he got rid of acursed ex-human vampire hunter.

One of his underworld connections, Kenichi Daisuki had taken up the task and performed the plan well. After Kaname had dropped Yuki off at her wedding location, Kaname had driven himself back to Kiryu's apartment residence to ensure that everything went well.

When he had arrived at Kiryu's apartment, the boy had let him in, and they had an odd conversation together while they got ready for the coming sunset beach wedding. Kaname had been selected to be Kiryu's stand-in best man, after Toga Yagari was called away to an unexpected hunter's meeting.

When Kiryu had gone to his car that was when Kenichi had attacked. Kaname watched as the underworld's number one assassin and his men fought against the young ex-human vampire hunter. Even Kaname was surprised at the boy's abilities. But in the end, Kiryu had been taken and Kaname had thought he was killed and his body completely destroyed.

Thinking back, at the time, Kaname had been really glad that none of Kiryu's blood had gotten on his wedding suit. When he had returned to Yuki's location to inform her of Zero's expected arrival, he knew full well that the boy would never show up.

But that was neither here nor there. And it would be best for him to deal with the present.

Zero Kiryu had not been murdered that day as he had thought. Zero Kiryu had lived and now he was in Kaname's very possessive grasp.

But the person in his grasp wasn't exactly Zero Kiryu. It was someone else entirely different.

The person Kaname had now was called Silver Night.

Silver Night was Zero Kiryu.

Zero Kiryu was Silver Night.

At first, Kaname had been in disbelief but now Kaname could not deny it. The man had the same purple eyes and silver hair. The man had the same face and body and scent. Even the voice at times was the same.

But it was not Kiryu which watched and listen or tended to him with such an appreciated and single focus. Kiryu did not play the violin for him when he was tired or engaged with him in various childish and playful amusements when he was bored. Kiryu was not the one who massaged his stressed muscles or read to him various adventurous historical events. It was not Kiryu which wantonly groaned, desperately begged, or lustfully cry out his name like it was a sacred caress whenever Kaname took him – whether it was frenziedly fast or sluggishly slow.

Yes, Silver Night was and wasn't Zero Kiryu. They were still so similar, but oh so very, very different.

Yet, Kaname had come to an anxious conclusion that Silver Night didn't know he was Zero Kiryu.

It really was the only logical explanation, and Kaname really didn't know what to think about that. Of course, he was somewhat grateful. If Kiryu was Kiryu, Kaname highly doubted that anything between them would have occurred, especially what had occurred between them. Surely, Kiryu would have wanted revenge, no? That would have been annoying. The original Kiryu would have wanted to stab Kaname's heart with a sword rather than...moaning to be being repeatedly impaled by Kaname's...eh...male staff. So, in a way, it was highly beneficial to Kaname that Kiryu was not like he use to be.

Still, after nearly weeks of such pleasure and contentment, Kaname didn't feel like he wanted to give that up. Part of him said - to hell with Yuki's old feelings. Kaname was going to keep the man for himself and only for himself. However, Kaname still wanted Yuki – for himself only, of course. Actually, coming to think about it – Kaname wanted both of them. He wanted both individuals privately and completely and only his. He wanted them for himself only, and he didn't want to share them. Not with others and especially not between each other. It was a wickedly selfish desire on Kaname's part, and Kaname wouldn't deny that.

He had never been ashamed of his selfishness.

After all, he was the Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire King Kaname Kuran. He did not get this position and state because he allowed little things like shame or guilt cloud his true desires.

Knock. Knock.

Kaname's musings was brought to a halt because of a light tapping on his private office door. He immediately recognized of the familiar tapping.

Juri. It was his beloved daughter.

Kaname stared at the paperwork he hadn't even looked at because of his musings. He sighed. No, matter. He had all the time in the world to get to them. "Come in, Juri." He called out.

Juri did with a burst of energy. "Papa!" The girl rushed in. "I love you so much!" She gusted.

Kaname raised a delicate eyebrow. It wasn't that he doubted Juri's true words or feelings, but she sometimes used those words whenever she wanted him to try to buy her a weird or very expensive item. Kaname was amused that Juri was so bad at lighthearted manipulation. Juri would try to be sneaky and then ruin the entire endeavor by revealing the truth to him without his prompting. She was far too open and honest around him, but what a precious child she was to him because of it.

"Thank you, Juri." Kaname smiled lightly at her. "What do I own this declaration of your love to?" Kaname looked his daughter over with a firm eye. She really prettified herself for this. She looked like a cute and innocent porcelain doll. Her dark-brown hair had rivers of tight black curls. She wore bright pink lipstick, and she was wearing a long white and pink baby-doll dress. The entire image screamed cute and adorable young teen girl.

Juri's eyes brighten. "I really want to meet him, Papa! The man whom you-" She started to say but stopped.

Suddenly, Kaname and Juri both felt the unleashed dark angry energy of a young pureblood.

_What in the world? _

Kaname used his massive area senses to pinpoint the source of that unexpected burst of vampire power. His private palace. A room in his private palace. The gym. Kaname rushed to his feet as Juri's eyes went wide.

Kaname's instincts roared to life. Silver was the only other person in that area, and he was trapped by a young pureblood with angry energy.

Kaname rushed out of his office.

* * *

He was in trouble.

Haruka knew he was in deep and stinky trouble.

His father looked at him with a fury that Haruka hadn't experienced throughout his life. His father was never one to openly show his emotions, so the fact that he was doing so now filled Haruka with a sense of dread that he had never felt before. Even Juri was silent, and the old Butler looked fearful. Father was known to be vicious and cruel, and while he always treated Haruka with a casual sense of disregarded disappointment, Haruka never once thought, he would one day be on the receiving end of his father's legendary cold fury.

A cold fury that had crushed thousands of his mightiest of enemies. A cold fury that even made even the vilest of evil and heartless tremble. A cold fury that had wantonly crushed entire cities and nations and peoples. A cold fury Haruka heard whispered stories about but couldn't quite believe because he never saw it really.

Alas he was proven dead wrong.

His father's dark-brown eyes were as cold as arctic icicles.

_Haruka feared for his life._

"What do you think you are doing, Haruka?" His father asked him in a serenely dark tone.

Haruka's right hand began to tremble. He didn't know what to do. In a far-distant part of his mind, Haruka thought that he shouldn't be the one to be so terrified in this situation. After all, he wasn't the one who was destroying their family! Father should be the one to be scared and to be the one to be questioned. What right did father have to be angry at him? In a better world, that would be the case.

Too bad that this wasn't that world.

His father's dark-brown eyes became even colder. "Do not force me to repeat myself, boy."

Haruka could not say a word. The imminent pressure of his father's cold fury crushed his ability to speak.

Haruka tried to open his mouth. He couldn't even think. He didn't know what to even do. He could barely even breathe as it was. And he was just so damn scared, and he felt like crying and –

Suddenly, a large warm hand grabbed his trembling right one. The surprising feeling instantly distracted him from his father's soon-coming wrath. Haruka's eyes were snatched by calm purple-gray ones. They stared at each other for a minute. The person below him shifted his hips to the side and tried to get himself up. Like he had no control over his own body, Haruka was guided off the man. The man righted himself up and looked at Haruka calmly and shook his head slightly towards him. Then the beautiful man turned his back to him and started to walk towards his father in a smooth and graceful manner.

For some strange reason, Haruka became less afraid.

But not by much.

* * *

_Well, wasn't this a wonderful turn of events?_ Silver thought to himself distantly. In a moment, Silver could take in this entire situation.

His attacker was his master's son, who had attacked him because he thought Silver was a threat to his family, particularly his mother. The Butler had intervened when Silver had hasty thought of seducing the teen boy, but hadn't moved to separate them. His master had come in and saw that his son was pinning Silver to the cold wooden ground with his hands and legs trapping Silver underneath him. Silver rightly knew that such an image would infuriate a possessive being like his current master. Vampires were possessive out of nature, but it seemed that the higher up the status of the vampire, the more possessive they were of things and people they believed to be their own.

Apparently, purebloods took that possessiveness to new heights.

But his new master was a class in his own right.

If nothing else, Silver Night recognized a golden opportunity here. With his crafty instincts guiding him, Silver realized that he had found another pawn, a new play, and a fresh tactic.

In a graceful move, he stood before his master and kneeled himself before his jailor. He felt the wet sweat of his work out shirt drying on his chest. "My master," Silver's voice deeply intoned. "You are blessed with such a thoughtful and amazing son."

His master's possessive fury instantly disappeared due to his scandalized confusion.

All the eyeballs in the entire room riveted to him at that moment. Silver held back his dark smile. In the corners of his vision, Silver took in the reaction of his highly unexpected words. The elderly Butler looked like a fish. The boy who had attacked him looked like he was either on the verge of fainting or becoming an ice statue. Behind his master, Silver noted the presence of a young teen girl.

He nearly lost himself.

That girl was the girl he had seen before. The one that triggered the memory of a dream within a dream.

Silver quickly regained himself. Now was not the time to be focus on those sorts of things.

Silver focused on the most important person in the room.

His master was stunned. _Good_. Clearly, the man did not expect such words. His master's cold fury that was aimed at his stoned son was melting due to his total confusion at Silver's oddly chosen words.

_Perfect_.

"What?" All three inhabitants of the room said in unison. The word echoed briefly in the large space.

Silver decided that it was to his best advantage to unleash his newest plots. What a wonderfully advantageous fortune to occur. Without missing a beat, his enacted plot one.

Silver kept his head down. His long silver hair hid his facial expression. "Your son is quite loyal to you, my master. Your son thought I was a threat to your family."

"You? A threat?" His master echoed.

"Indeed." Silver answered.

His master swept his dark-brown eyes on his son and glared, but then he forced his eyes back on Silver. He had his master's complete attention now.

Silver continued on. Let's not allow his master to focus on that particular aspect shall we? "He was trying to protect you from an enemy. In the face of such passion, I was not able to inform him of my complete submission and ownership to you very well." While still kneeling before his master, Silver took his bloodless hand. There was no resistance to his action.

_Silver had him._

Silver's voice could make silk envious. "Please forgive me for my failure, my master."

Silver's soft lips kissed the center of his master's right hand.

It was like a spell had been weaved.

There was a moment of silence.

"This isn't your fault, Silver." His master suddenly seemed to find himself, and he seemed pleasantly reassured of his control and place.

"Neither is it your son's." Silver whispered quietly. He was sure all the inhabitants in the room could hear him though.

Silver felt his master move his kissed hand towards his right cheek. He pulled Silver up and towards him – bringing Silver close. Silver saw the man study his face for a moment and Silver relaxed into the familiar feeling and action.

"Your face is injured, Silver." His master suddenly said. Silver lean into the man's palm and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he used his well-honed siren's glaze to pierce that last walls of his master's sudden jealous anger.

"But you could make it better." There was a lustful hint in his tone. Silver didn't think the two children would really understand what he was slyly suggesting to his master, but the rapid coughing from the head Butler alerted Silver that the three mature male individuals in the room understood exactly what he was suggesting.

His master lips formed a naughty smirk.

Bingo.

"Perhaps later, Silver." His master's voice was completely at ease now, but he turned his attention to the boy behind him. He dropped his hand from Silver's face.

"Come with me, Haruka." His master's cold fury was gone, but it was replaced with a smooth irritation. The boy was still shocked at his father's words, but the deadly fear that had captured the teen before was gone as well. The brat almost seemed joyous at the familiar irritated tone of his father.

As he watched the two males leave the room, Silver wondered how long the fruits of this hasty plan of his would take to ripen.

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** So, here is an extra-long chapter for my waiting readers! I hoped you all enjoyed it, and thanks for all the well wishes for my health and studies! I'm a bit better now! Anyway, so the plot is thickening! XD Thanks for reading! And please leave a lovely review!


	24. Chapter 23 Females

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

The warm late afternoon beach air hugged her pale skin as Yuki laid back on Zero's tombstone. She felt the smooth white marble of the tombstone support her back and the pearl white sand beneath her body was warm due to the fading heat of the yellow sun. The day had not been very hot, and the always-blowing ocean wind allowed Yuki to stay at the gravesite for the entire day.

She had removed her black veiling hat and replaced it with a big white straw hat. The change of hats forced her to expose her makeup-less face to the wind. Her long dark-brown hair was placed in a tight single braid, and she worm a simple flowing white dress that covered all of her limbs. She spent the entire last night and all of the day sitting at Zero's tombstone.

Logically, Yuki knew that the grave underneath her did not hold Zero's body. The only thing that was in that white casket was the few found pieces of his bloody white wedding tuxedo, his earrings, his weapon, some bullets from his anti-vampire gun, and a small picture of a lightly smiling Zero.

_It was all she had left of him that was him. _

Zero wasn't the type of person to get very attached to things, so he personally didn't keep much material items around him. Yuki would always remark that she knew he had to be a Spartan man in a past life because his bedroom and personal spaces were always so boring and so plain. Zero would then say having too many things around him wasted valuable open space. And then they would mock argue about the benefits and disadvantages of materialism and then Yuki would say something weird and confusing to defend her dying position and Zero would give her a slow blink like she had gone crazy and then let out a little laugh and a witty comment.

Yuki massaged her forehead. Her thoughts always ran wild and abstract whenever she visited this place.

Zero's body wasn't here, but Yuki tried to believe that his soul was, and that it would visit her here from time to time. It was the only thing she could think of doing really. That pathetic thought was the only thing that gave her a small sense of peace. She needed a place that had something of him there. That was his place – their own little private place in this cold and cruel world. Her heart couldn't live with the fact that Zero's presence in the world was disappearing and that the world itself seemed to not really care about it.

The night and day went by so fast. Yuki didn't feel like she had spent any time here at all. If she could, she would have stayed in this spot forever.

One hundred years ago, they were supposed to be married in the afternoon during sunset on the beach. Yuki remembered that day. Her marriage day started with the goal of being the culmination of all her happy hopes and lifetime dreams. But when that day had ended, it was the start of her bitter losses and nightly nightmares.

She lost Zero. She lost their baby. She lost her mind. She lost her first self.

Then she fought. Then she married. Then she had children. Then she became some sad and twisted thing of her former self.

And during all those years, she had been married to her first love's murderer.

It was a fact: Yuki Kuran was the world's biggest idiot.

By the heavens, Rido should have practiced his aim better. If she had died, Zero might have lived. Zero should have been less well-practiced in his hunter training, because if he hadn't been able to save her, then he would have lived. If she had been stronger and smarter and wasn't so stupidly trusting, Zero would have been alive today. Yuki didn't know what to do, and so she did the only thing she could do, and so she hated herself. Hated herself with a passion that darkened her soul bit by bit every single moment.

On that day, in the far off past, Yuki saw herself be beautiful for the first time in her life. She had loved how she looked, and she had wanted Zero to be the first person to see her like that.

Now, she was beautiful all the time. A beautiful walking and talking and living corpse. She painted her face beautifully every day. She was beautiful every day. _She painted her face to hide her face_. From that day onward no one saw Yuki's natural and pure face anymore. _She painted her face to hide her heart._ No one saw her real and free face. Not even Kaname. Not even her children. _She painted her face to hide her soul._

The only thing Yuki allowed to see her true face was Zero's tombstone, because Zero had only glazed at her natural and plain face.

Still, after all these long years, she really was still stupid, and weak, and oh so very, _very_ tired.

Yuki stared at the paling blue afternoon sky. She always came here when she needed a hidden comfort, or if she needed to decide on something important.

"I'm going to get a divorce from Kaname, Zero." She finally told his tombstone. It took her so long to say these words to him. Yuki briefly wondered if Zero could see her where ever dead souls were. If he could, he would probably be rolling his eyes and think to himself: _Well, duh, Yuki. It's about time, you slow idiot! _

Yuki gave herself a bitter smile. No, Zero probably wouldn't think that. Knowing Zero, he would have hoped she never found out about it and continued to live on a relative peaceful existence. Zero always chose the nobler path even if it hurt him the worst at the end. Zero was that type of man. The type of man who would sooner cut off his right arm, then allow a person he loved to lose a fingernail.

"It is going to be a very difficult fight. Kaname won't let go of me too easily." Her voice broke. For ninety years, she stayed by Kaname's side. She knew him better than anyone else, and at that time, she had grown to love him.

But her love for him never even reached a tenth of what she had felt for Zero. Yuki had been so sorry and so guilty for that back then. She had thought Kaname deserved better than a broken woman's scattered heart. Who would have thought that was more than he deserved? She had been such an idiot – she was still such a clueless idiot!

Yuki let out the breath she was suddenly holding. "However, I don't know what I'll do, even after I win. And I will win. I must win." She looked at the orange sky again. "Perhaps I'll join you here, after I win?"

The silence of everything around her – the wind, the ocean, the sky – she imagined that they represented Zero's soul probable disapproval.

"No, you probably wouldn't want that, huh? I'm an idiot to think that." Yuki muttered to herself. Yuki didn't think that Zero would be too pleased to see her in the afterlife, if there was an afterlife, after all he's done to protect her life when they were together. After sacrificing so much for her to live and be happy, he wouldn't be too please if she just simply ended hers because she was so tired of everything. But Yuki was always an idiot. Zero should have never fallen in love with the world's biggest idiot.

"I don't know what the future holds for me, Zero." Yuki continued on. "I hate Kaname so much that it's butchering my own heart and soul. My hate is so beyond hatred now and divorce is the only thing I can think of to do to him that may actually hurt him. Who knows?" Her voice cracked. "I want to hurt him, and I can't physically hurt him. He's so strong." She was breathing heavily now. "I want to kill him, but I can't kill him because that would hurt the children. I want to force him to feel the pain I feel but in the end, it's no use. Even if I hurt him, even if I kill him, _it would not bring you back_. And I'm so hateful and angry and sad and stupid and...and..." Her voice broke.

"I would do anything to have you here with me again, Zero." Yuki then started to cry. "I wish I could start everything over."

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Females **

* * *

**Present**

Rima Touya looked at her cell phone. Takuma Ichijo's private number glowed brightly.

Rima massaged her forehead.

Takuma was an old friend of hers, but he was also the man who broke fragile Senri Shiki's heart. In an uncharacteristic move, Senri had once revealed to Rima the reason Takuma's and Senri's relationship had fallen apart.

Takuma said he loved Senri, but Takuma also added that he wasn't in love with him.

For someone who is as sensitive and vague as Senri, hearing something like that would have hurt him deeply. Senri had sworn off love for ages because he saw what it had done to his mother, and he didn't want to fall victim to love's curse.

However, Takuma was the first person Senri ever admired, and that admiration had turned into a secret love over the years they knew each other. Rima had really fancied Senri the first moment she first met him. But Senri had dubbed her The Brat and then The Bitch. And so it took a while for their friendship to really develop. But even when they became friends, Rima had always suspected that Senri liked Takuma in an obvious non-platonic way when she saw them together. She had her typically youthful jealous moments, but all in all, she had kept her tongue silent. And that had been a very hard thing for her to do - being quiet about her true feelings and all.

But then Takuma Ichijo went and completely turned the entire vampire world upside down.

Takuma Ichijo had married Sayori Wakaba.

It was a secret getaway type wedding. One minute they were associates, then they were friends, then they were close, and then boom – married and expecting a child.

And not just any child, a half-vampire and half-human child: a Dhumpire. Something rarer than a green moon.

Not only that, Sayori refused to become a vampire. She said she was born human, lived as a human, and that she would die human. She wasn't ashamed of her heritage and if the vampire world didn't like the fact that she, a feeble human woman, had snagged one of their most desirable bachelors, it could collectively kiss her human ass.

It was one of the few times Sayori ever cursed. Rima had always treasured that moment.

Humans really kicked butt sometimes. Sayori just wasn't afraid of anything.

However, Sayori aged the way humans typically do. She died at the age of 82. Everyone who knew her, cried when they found out, but Takuma and Yuki were the ones most heavily hit by her death. Yuki had cried for weeks, but Takuma had been the one Rima had been most concerned over. The always cheerful blond had become a living zombie those following years.

It took the collective effort of his five Dhumpire children to get him back to reality. However, when Senri had entered his life, it seemed the two would be a good match. Takuma slowly came back to himself, and Rima had never seen Senri so happy. And while it hurt that Senri was happy, and she wasn't the cause of it; Rima quietly decided to let him do what he needed to do.

Rima then decided to go back to school and get her law degree. At the time, Senri was so far out of her reach. Rima had decided to give up and focus on changing herself and bettering her life. Ruka and Seiren would always give each other knowing looks whenever the entire gang got together and when they saw Rima's strain to smile at the dating male couple. Ruka would grind her teeth and muttered that for all of Rima's blunt and raunchy ways, she was surprisingly very quiet when it comes to matters personally concerning her.

Rima would then tell Ruka to mind her own man (the ever quiet and faithful Akatuski Kain) before Rima decided to take him herself.

Of course, that led to Ruka not speaking to her for weeks and Seiren playing the put-upon peacekeeper.

And then stupid (or great...) Takuma broke it off with Senri.

When she had heard the news, she rushed to find Senri. She knew that Senri was the type to kill himself over something like that. Damn him! Like mother, like son.

And she found him in a seedy bar, getting heavily drunk.

Rima had known that was her chance to get Senri then, but Rima's conscious yelled at her, and she stupidly listened to it. It wouldn't do for her to take advantage of Senri's misfortune just so that she could finally have what she wanted. So she did what Senri always accused her of doing.

She became the bitch friend and yelled at him to fight for Takuma.

"If you really loved Takuma, then go after him, idiot." Rima yelled at him over her brown beer bottle. Yeah, when in Rome. "Aren't you a man? Grow a pair and fight for him, you cowardly dick." She took a swing of her drink. "The only person who suffers is the person who doesn't try, and I never pegged you as a quitter, Sen!" Yeah, even hypocrites speak the truth sometimes. And she was a great big hypocrite. "Don't make me change my opinion about you, you good-for-nothing lazy prick!"

Yep, the modeling world didn't call her Foul Mouth Rima for nothing. Rima Touya: She looks like an angel, acts like a devil. And currently, in the legal world, she was dubbed Ms. Bitch.

Senri had blinked at her and smiled.

Afterwards, he then fought viciously for Takuma's time and attention. It got so bad that even Kaname remarked to Yuki (when they were still together – which for some odd reason, felt like ages ago to Rima despite her knowing it had only been a year) about the whole Takuma-Senri Scandal. And you know things are bad when Mr. High and Mighty decides to make it an issue. The gossip papers had a field day and half the things they reported on the male couple were usually completely false, wild, and outlandish.

Rima had a very nice time suing their asses bankrupted.

However, after that one incident, Senri had decided to really give up. Rima had been right there with him and was torn between kicking herself for being so stupid to cheer him on to further hurt, and just being a quiet supportive presence beside him.

When Takuma had decided to take a long three-year vacation, the only two people Senri had was Rima and his mother. And out of the blue, Senri had turned to her one day and said, "Date me, Ri."

Rima had been so surprised that she did the first thing that came naturally to her.

She insulted him. "In your wildest dreams, Senri! Don't joke about things like that." She hissed too quickly. "I'm fifty degrees out of your league."

But Senri was serious. His blue eyes were so knowing..."I'm not joking. Let's date, Rima."

And Ms. Bitch Lawyer Woman was left speechless for the first time in her life.

And that was a good thing because know her, she would have ruined it. Rima smiled slightly to herself. Somehow, she had gotten the man she liked her entire life to see her not as a bratty childhood companion or a bitchy but very close friend, but as a person he could actually fully love.

Slow and steady won this prize.

They had dated for the three years in Takuma's absence and Rima was fearful that if she made this call, she would lose the person she now had. Takuma was due back in a few months, but this call would probably put him on the next plane wherever he was. He was a lawyer and the King's Right Arm, after all.

And she, Rima Touya, was also a lawyer and the Queen's Left Arm.

They would be going head to head at each other from this moment on. And she just wasn't too sure about her relationship standing with Senri if Takuma were to show up again. Would Senri leave her and go back to Takuma if he saw him again? By darkness, was this round one or something?

Rima grinned darkly. She was Ms. Bitch, and thus she could handle anything that would come. She pressed the call button on her personal cell phone.

"Helloooo?" A sunshine male voice popped on.

Rima decided that now was the time to bust his happy bubble. Stupid happy douchebag. How dare he hurt Senri's feelings! "By Order of the Queen, I am to inform you first of her special announcement to which you must inform the King personally."

"Way to get straight to business, Rima." Takuma sounded dryly amused. "When is Yuki planning to go back to the palace? I've been seeing strange rumors in the newspapers, but I knew it was just sheer garbage."

Rima decided to just cut to the chase. "The Queen is demanding a full-fledged vampire divorce. The first meeting will be on the First Day of the New Royal Year."

She heard a defeating one-minute silence at the other end of the phone.

Then Takuma's voice soared. "WHAT?"

* * *

The Butler had soon left his presence in the cold gym, but Silver was not alone.

The girl before him was..._startlingly_. It was hard to really explain it. The obvious daughter of his master was startlingly and for some reason, extremely unnerving to him.

"Hi, Silver Angel Man, I'm Juri Kuran!" She held out her small pale hand and Silver wordlessly shook her hand politely.

_Silver Angel Man? _

He really should have said something then because she morphed into a whirlwind.

"Ha ha! Well, your name is probably not Silver Angel Man. I just came up with the nickname because I really didn't know your real name. I tend to do that a lot. People say I do it because I'm really, really, really bad at remembering names and faces. Actually, I don't think I am bad at remembering faces, but names...well, yeah...they really get me in trouble sometimes. Especially if the name is something exotic or really, really, really unique. I'm really bad a pronouncing Russian names, actually. I think I got a D on my last practice exam. My brother is good at languages and those sorts of things. Well, I'm not exactly bad. I know three languages: Japanese, English, and French. Well, I really only learn those because I'm really into fashion, but not the I-am-better-than-you-because-I-can-afford-this-really-unnecessary-pair-of-shoes-so-sucks-to-be-you type fashion, but I-like-looking-artistic-and-creative-but-sometimes-my-vision-is-bad-but-that-is-okay-because-beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder type fashion. However, you seem like an I-don't-care-much-for-fashion-I-just-have-my-personal-style type of person, but you don't really need clothes. Well, you do need clothes. I just saying you don't really need them because well, you're very handsome and so knightly!" Young Princess Juri Kuran spoke with the energy of an insane tornado. Silver felt like he was smacked with a hammer, then hit by a bus, after which he fell down a hill.

Silver stared at her for a moment, and before he could say anything again, her face heated up in embarrassment and she continued on with her verbal assault on his ears.

"Oh no, did I just say you shouldn't wear clothes. I must sound like a pervert! I not for nudity or anything but I'm not anti-nudist either because we all come into this world naked and all. Oh, I'm making it worst. Clothing is good and needed. But what I'm trying to say is that fashion really isn't all that important, but it is fun. Yet, you don't need to follow fashion because sometimes those designers are a bunch of weird snobs who don't really care about the needs for the regular person and that is really sad and bad, huh? But you are a very handsome person, so you would look great in a paper bag and sometimes a stupid extreme designer would make an outfit out of a paper bag, but then you would pay a ridiculous price for it and then what? Isn't that all just a waste of money and millions of people are starving around the globe." She looked at him with large puppy-dog eyes, and Silver couldn't help himself.

Silver laughed.

His laugh was free and wildly childlike. He did not laugh like this for ages.

Silver had a sudden realization that he was dealing with a very strange and rare creature.

Before his very eyes, stood the wondrous, the innocent, and the blessed female airhead.

"You really are quite precious." Silver smiled at her. It was a true smile. Really, there was something refreshing about her honestly naive manner. Clearly, she had a bit of a young-love crush on him, if her mindless nervous babble was any indication.

The young teen girl's face reddened completely. Yep, she definitely had an obvious crush on him.

She tapped her index fingers together and then snapped her finger. "Oh no, I should get you some ice for that cheek! Haruka punched you in the face, huh? I keep telling him that punching first before asking questions second isn't a good idea. What if you punch the wrong person, huh? Then what? But Haruka isn't a really bad person, but he can be mean to me sometimes. He thinks I'm a weirdo and an idiot, but I don't think I am. I'm just honest. Honesty is the best policy, I think! Lying is a lot of hard work, you know?"

Her young face might end up staying red if she continued. Silver looked at her and studied her. She seemed familiar, but not familiar at the same time. It was a weird feeling of déjà vu and Silver felt he was missing a vital connection or link when he gazed on her memorable yet still so alien face.

Nevertheless, if nothing else, one thing he knew for sure was that she obviously liked him. She was clearly such a rash and youthful thing to even consider that when she obviously didn't really understand what Silver was. Silver knew that she had a type of innocent star-struck love, a type of young pure crush, which Silver was astonished by.

And it made him _extremely_ uncomfortable.

_Innocence_. He had not been around true and honest innocence for a long time. Silver was _disturbed_ by it. But what disturbed him even more was his internal reaction to her was so confusing that it shocked even him.

_Protect her._

While Silver had committed many sins, strangely he suddenly did not want to be responsible for destroying this pure creature's heart. He could do it. He knew he could. He could twist her into a broken and twisted thing. He could destroy her heart and soul. He could destroy her life and that innocent look in her eyes. He was capable of it. He was a shadow, after all. But deep within his soul, he rebelled against the logic of harming her.

The girl triggered the memory of a dream within a dream – a dream of which he could not remember. And thus his half-heart had the oddest of responses.

_Protect her. _

_Why should I?_ Silver mentally hissed. He didn't expect an answer. His true self never answered his questions. He only really appeared when something in the outside world triggered a memory, and then his true self would rob him of that triggered memory.

Coming to think of it, in the past few months, Silver had had more messages from his true self, then all his decades of forced Doll imprisonment and servitude.

But still, Silver never really expected an answer from his true self.

_She's like the woman I failed._ His true self's voice suddenly revealed itself. _So, protect her._

Silver was floored. This...this was the first time in his entire existence that his true self actually seem to _speak_ to him. Silver never knew if his true self was really aware of him at all. They only meet in that damn death-induced dream.

_Why? _

But his true self answered him no more.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Thicken my plot, thicken! Thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts in the review! Also, feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I might not be able to reveal much (Some of my readers are far too perceptive and smart for me! ;D) But I do love the interactive exchanges with my readers! XD


	25. Chapter 24 Males

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Warning: There is strong sexual content in this chapter! Reader Beware! **

* * *

**Present**

Kaname looked down his delicate nose at his completely useless son. He was back in his private office in his private palace. The paperwork lay forgotten beside him on his large Oakwood desk. His stupid son stood before him. His dark-brown eyes were down, and his heart was pounding profoundly in his young chest.

This young, reckless, and rebellious fool.

It was wrong, but Kaname really _did_ prefer Juri over Haruka. Juri was his ball of sunshine and while she did make many mistakes, Kaname never really got angry at her for them. It was hard to be mad at such an earnest and endearing creature. After all, while she was extremely simple in how she looked upon the world, Juri was extremely honest and always looked for the good in everything. She saw the good in everybody, even him. So, how could one not prefer such a person?

She remained him of what Yuki _used_ to be like so long ago.

However, Haruka was too much like him and yet not at all like him. While he tried to be cold and unfeeling, Kaname could obviously see his rotten tendencies towards the gentler emotions when something 'moved' him. Pathetic.

That was _unacceptable_ for someone who was to be his heir.

A ruler, especially a vampire ruler, does not stay on top by allowing weak things like mercy, gentleness, and caring overtake him. Kaname did not build his massive empire to this state by playing to those useless feelings. And to think that his heir, his reckless stupid male child, was going to inherit his hard work and thus could possibly destroy it over some 'moving' reason – No! That very thought irritated Kaname to no end. Haruka would talk a good game, but then do something completely different and so utterly stupid. And Kaname would be _ashamed_ to face his fellow peer rulers whenever they had their annual council. Haruka always did stupid things and right now he did the most stupid thing to date.

He dared to harm an exceptionally essential possession of his.

"Would you care to explain just what exactly you did to him?" He asked in disgusted exasperation.

"I punched him." Haruka quietly said. He couldn't look at his father.

"Where did you punch him?" Kaname studied his son.

"His face." Kaname's eyes grew darker. "And his stomach." The boy answered.

Kaname was silent for one solid moment.

It was pathetically obvious to him that his son was trying to ignore the gray elephant in the room.

Kaname had caught the boy and his lover in a very _comprising_ position.

Now, logically, Kaname knew that it wasn't what his inner beast snarled its vengeance for. _Obviously_. They were clothed, for darkness's sake. However, when he had seen his son trap his lover underneath him, his pureblood instincts screamed at him to _immediately_ eliminate the rival.

Obviously, he was not going to do that. Kaname wasn't a mindless Level E, but his inner creature had not been very happy to see that vision. His natural jealousy nearly unleashed itself. If it had been any other person, _not his son_, Kaname would probably be ordering his Butler to clean up the spattered blood from his various workout machines.

Silence dragged on between father and son.

Haruka was torn. Just a few minutes ago, he was sure his father was going to murder him. Every time he had glared at Haruka with that unholy cold fury, Haruka had felt a little piece of him die. His father's dark-brown eyes had had a look of revengeful sadistic maliciousness that had terrified him so deeply that his mental state was still throbbing.

A father should never look at his son like that. _**Never**_.

Haruka stared at his father and came to the terrifying conclusion that this man had a frightful inner darkness that Haruka could never accept.

Why did this man, of all the billions of possible men in this world, have to be his father? Why? Why couldn't his father say nice things to him? Why couldn't his father encourage him? Why did his father always have to mock, belittle, and always demean him?

_Why did his own father seem to spite him so? _

A defensive rebelliousness was born inside him. So what if father didn't care for him? He had his mother! Father had no right to be upset at him. After all, it wasn't _he_ that Haruka had beaten up! Father had no right to be so angry. Sure, Haruka made a bad mistake, even he realized that. Yet even now, he didn't even know what that mistake even was. No one had explained it to him, and his father was...threatening a vicious punishment for something Haruka had been clueless about. Haruka felt that his father, of all people, should have at least trusted him enough to hear his side of the story.

But father didn't do that.

He had just gotten so murderously angry, and Haruka had seen a small fragment of the cruelty that the court silently whispered stories about.

If that man, the man with the calm purple eyes, hadn't defended him – Haruka did not want to imagine what his father might have done.

Haruka felt a bone deep gratefulness to the stranger. He'd been an idiot, even Haruka could admit that he had acted without thinking. But that purple-eyed man had defended him and had even spoken nice words about him when all the evidence, to the contrary, was right there. Haruka punched the man in the face for just saying hello! All because he was _so_ -

_Hey_...Wait just _one_ minute!

Haruka's mind righted itself.

Haruka blinked. This entire situation wouldn't even have happened if father wasn't _**cheating on mother with another man! **_

With a renewed courage that Haruka didn't really feel, he broke the silence, "Why are you are cheating on mother with that man?" Haruka tonelessly accused.

Now it was Kaname's turn to stare.

Cheating.

_Cheating? _

_**Cheating!**_

"You think I'm cheating on my wife?" Kaname incredulously echoed. The foolish brat thought he was _cheating_? Kaname stared in completely disbelief at his son.

Then Kaname's lips started to form a mocking laughter. His laugh had a very nasty tone.

_Cheating_. Isn't that a word one should use for lower types of relationships? Kaname was suddenly extremely annoyed with the accusing question. Who could possibly be worthy for him to even consider cheating on Yuki with? How dare that stupid brat accuse him of something so _base_ as cheating! Wretched idiot. Bloody fool. Stupid brat.

But suddenly, his mind turned on, and promptly reminded him that he _was_ sleeping with Silver.

Well, that didn't really _count_.

How could that possibly be cheating? Kaname wasn't _cheating_. Cheating implied that Kaname was unsatisfied with Yuki and thus was turning his attention to someone equal and new with the aim of discarding Yuki because of her lack of usefulness to him.

But that wasn't the case. You couldn't call what he was doing cheating. Kaname had come to the conclusion that he would keep both. He had the right to keep both. And he had the _power_ to keep both. Kaname wanted Silver, and he had him. Kaname wanted Yuki and soon he would have her again. They were both his precious possessions, because they both fulfilled the needed roles he considered necessary for himself.

Silver gloriously provided him the desperately needed and satisfying companionship he had been sorely lacking with his marriage to Yuki. The time he had spent with Silver recently had highlighted just how famished he'd been for the type of closeness he now had. Actually, Silver was more than a mere companion, he was Kaname's _ideal_ companion.

Kaname recognized that his previous relationship with Yuki, while not bad, per say, was not as fulfilling for him as he originally thought it would be. Yuki changed so much from their past days at Cross Academy. Even when she finally regained her sanity after five years of running around the globe like a wild Level E beast (By darkness, _that_ had been so _humiliating_!), she wasn't what he thought she would always be.

Kaname wasn't displeased by that change, per say. After all, the old Yuki wouldn't have been able to survive or be of much use to him in his court with its various internal and external conflicts. So, in a way, her change was good. Still, Kaname couldn't deny the fact that he missed the wholesome, guiltless look she once had when she wore a brown school uniform and would shout out to him with the word "_Kaname-sama_!"

But Silver gave him that much desired looked. Whenever that beautiful man looked at Kaname, Kaname had regained the gaze _he most preferred_.

But Kaname ultimately knew that Silver will not be with him forever. Silver was not a pureblood. So, Silver would ultimately be lost to him one day, and Kaname would once again have lost the gaze _he most preferred. _

If nothing else, the failure of Takuma's relationship with his human wife was a real life warning to Kaname. Kaname had told Takuma that getting so deeply involved with a _human_, of all creatures, would ultimately lead to his ruin. Especially since the woman refused to at least become an ex-human if only for Takuma's sakes. But Takuma had stubbornly gone through with his decision, despite Kaname's advice, and look where _he_ ended up.

Takuma became a broken man for nearly a decade. Kaname hadn't been able to do much when his Right Arm was so desponded. Kaname had been quite glad when he started a relationship the Senri - at least Senri was a fellow noble and thus the possibility of Takuma's severe depression wouldn't likely occur again, but then those two suddenly ended their affair and Takuma almost became useless again.

Officially, Takuma was on a worldwide vacation, but Kaname felt it was more of a self-imposed exile.

However, Kaname had a prime example so close in his circle of why it was not a good idea for those unequally yoked to be together. One side would always suffer the most in the end. Kaname had Silver now, but he was so..._temporary_.

But Yuki was a pureblood. Yuki would be one of the few beings on this dead earth that could stay by his side as long as time lasted. Kaname knew that Yuki was learning this lesson rather harshly of late. Or at least he hoped the foolish woman was. Eventually, after they got over this...distraction...she would return to being his long-term companion. Perhaps, once she had healed the small emotional wounds she had, she could go back to what she first was and what he first preferred in her.

Kaname stopped laughing. "You really are too young to really understand these things, foolish child." Kaname shook his head and promptly dismissed his words. "I'm not cheating on your mother, stupid boy. She has no cause or reason to renounce me after all I have done for her."

Haruka's eyes flashed. He knew BS when he heard it.

But Kaname was not done. He leveled a sharp glare at his son. Ah, _there_ was that irritatingly suspicious and distrustful look he had again. By darkness, he hated that particular look. It was so _similar_ to those looks of that trigger-happy thief so long ago gave him and he -

Never mind with _that_ thought.

Kaname refocused on his heir. "But make no mistake about it, you will be punished for your indiscretion. But I need to think of an acceptable one."

The boy stared angrily back at him, but didn't say a word.

Oh? The child would dare challenge him?

Kaname was strangely amused.

Perhaps there was hope for his heir yet.

Yet now that Haruka was looking at him, Kaname decided to give the boy a final warning. "_Never harm my possession or anything of mine again._ I will not lightly spare you a second time. _Do you understand?_"

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Males **

* * *

**Nine Hours Later **

Silver slowly massaged his head.

Juri Kuran was a talker.

The young girl basically attached herself to him far past the midnight hour. She chattered away endlessly at him, and Silver, for some reason, endured it.

Maybe it was because the only contact he had had to the outside world was Butler Rio and his Master Kaname. Those two men where the only two creatures who would have interacted with him at all. After he'd been given his new privileges, Silver had spotted a few Level C maids here and there in his master's private palace, but they all seemed to keep their distance from him, even if they secretly gawked at him when they thought he wasn't aware.

Silver had really good senses, better than even some of his previous noble masters had. But one particular ability he had that really stood out to him was that Silver would always, almost always, somehow know when a vampire's presence was close by. He would also be able to tell the level and power of that vampire and what rank that vampire had. It was a sense that really baffled him.

Vampires had an inherent ability to sense each other, but sometimes it was hard, even for them, to distinguish between the various vampire status and power levels. The recent mixing and technological advantages between the different levels ruptured the age-old vampire hierarchy. Some nobles were poorer and less powerful than some Level D vampires, and some Level C vampires were physically stronger than some nobles. The entire vampire hierarchy wasn't really effective in defining who was who and what one had and hadn't. Also, vampires had the uncanny ability to just be 'vampire' and nothing more, so it was getting harder and harder to distinguish them in hierarchies now.

There were only two real distinct classes now in the vampire world: Purebloods and 'Everybody Else'.

But that was a great big distinction indeed.

Still, Silver's ability to simply know that level, power, and ability of a vampire immediately was…odd. Really, the only creatures' Silver had ever heard of with a similar ability to his own were that special class of humans called vampire hunters. But the idea of him once being a vampire hunter in his previous existence was so ridiculous that Silver promptly dismissed the thought.

What a sad and ironically cruel thing it would be if a vampire hunter, of all people, had become a Doll.

Surely, the Hunter's Association wouldn't have allowed that. Hunters had their pride, after all.

Nevertheless, he was completely healed from his minor injuries. It wasn't like the boy had done any real damage to him. Besides, Silver's healing abilities were phenomenal in their own right.

Therefore, after young Juri had (thankfully) removed herself from him ("You should get some rest! You must have had a hard day!" The young teen girl brightly said when she had waved good-bye), Silver was finally able to get some time for himself and rethink his entire standing.

Silver decided that he should…pay his master a visit. There were many reasons for this but the top reason mostly had to do with the fact that Silver had distractedly hinted at certain…activities...in order to save that young pureblood child. There were few things that could distract an overwhelmingly powerful and selfish man and canal pleasure was one of those things. The promise of pleasure distracted and prevented a terribly developing situation. Silver was able to distract his master's jealousy-induced fury at seeing his own son 'dominate' something that was _his_.

History is littered with examples of fathers who killed their own child because of their jealousy-induced rages. And in vampire history, such acts were…more common.

And Silver was not about to lose a possible high-value pawn, and that boy could be an extremely useful pawn to him in the future, especially for his future plots and manipulations.

Nevertheless, Silver had hinted at the possibility, and so his master was going to expect it. And after all, the man had promised to 'make it better.'

Sometimes, sexual intercourse wasn't a beautiful and mutually bonding activity. There were so many different types, favors, and uses for sex. Depending on the individual in question, certain types of sexual activity would need to be engaged in more frequently than other types. And the type of sex his master currently needed wasn't the overly emotional, bonding, or romantic type sex.

Currently, that man needed the ownership reestablishment type sex.

There was a deep reason for this.

His master was a very possessive and obsessive individual. One what have to be blind not to see that. However, his master didn't become easily attached to things or people. Yet when he did decide that something was his – he would no longer allow, tolerate, or fathom any type of opposition or threat to his claim. Perhaps had he been born of a lower or weaker rank, his dangerously controlling jealousy would not have been so highly cultivated. But the fact of the matter was, his nature had been so cultivated, and his master had the power, prestige, and sheer will to retain and enforce his domineering desires. Thus, if one could not deal with such an intense personality –they were in a really precarious situation.

The fact that it was his son who had accidentally done such an act wouldn't have really mattered to his master's inherent persona. If Silver had to guess, the fact that it was his son, and not some _other_ luckless fool, was what probably spared the boy's limbs if not his life.

He had had a similar situation like this once before. In the second decade of his imprisonment, one of his many masters, Adiko Aizen, saw one of his best friends pin Silver to his living room sofa. Master Adiko had a similar personality to his current Master Kaname, and, at the time, Silver had grown very weary of that master's controlling ways. That man also had a slight preference for sadism, and that preference was growing more and more evident every day. Silver knew that if he had stayed in such a household any longer, he was risking his timely murder, and thus he had been making preparations to somehow get away.

He had selected that man's best friend because he had seen the way the man's eyes would follow him, and he was the easiest target. But when Adiko had seen his friend dominating over something that was his – the man had ended up as a bloody corpse. It was only the sheerest of luck that Silver had not yet wrapped himself seductively over the man, or he would have met the same fate that day. Master Adiko had convinced himself that his friend was 'trying to steal' him and Silver had pretended to be the poor, put-upon weak victim in that entire matter. It had given him a few months, but then that man's family had declared a blood feud against Master Adiko, and, all in all, Silver's ownership had been passed to that man's familial avenger.

Master Kaname did not have that inherent sadism - well not against things that were his – but that rottenly jealous personality of his was extremely dangerous. Silver knew he was playing with fire by manipulating that man's emotions and heart. If he did _too_ much of it, Master Kaname was smart enough,_ frightening so_, to figure out Silver's hidden intentions and then seek cruel vengeance for being used in such a way.

Silver was currently playing a _very_ dangerous game.

As a result, Silver was going to nip any jealous tendencies this situation could arise in his current master. By being completely submissive and urgent in pleasing the man, Silver would make the memory of this day a calmer recollection.

There was just one problem.

His master was still in his office.

That was really quite frustrating because there were only two places in the world where a man felt his most powerful – his office and his bedroom. But for his master, who was also a powerful vampire king, there was a third place that also allowed him to feel at his most powerful – his throne. Yet his master had expressive forbid Silver's access to two of those places: his private office and his bedroom.

Those three locations were the best background for what he was planning to do. However, his master's personal bedroom was out of the question. There was no way Silver thought he had reached that level of intimacy with his master yet. The throne room would be too…kinky….for his master's tastes. That only left one place.

Silver looked at his clock. It was far past the usual time his master came to see him.

Hmm, he had an idea.

* * *

Kaname looked at his paperwork and muttered a vicious curse beneath his breath.

Today's entire plan completely went off track. First, his children unexpectedly show up. Second, that highly unexpected Haruka-Silver situation. Then he had that stupid confrontation with that foolish boy. And finally, he had been lost in his thoughts about just what really was going on in all his various personal relationships.

Honestly, one moment his life was peaceful and then everything, absolutely everything, seem to come out of the woodworks. His friends, his family, even his outer court was being so unruly lately and Kaname was slightly stressed out.

And then he had paperwork, and phone calls, and many virtual meetings to do. He still had paperwork to do, and he was _so_ aggravated by everything! Kaname looked at the stake of papers on his side desk. His dark eyebrow twitched. Surely, they hadn't somehow doubled in size when he wasn't looking had they?

Knock. Knock.

Kaname blinked. He didn't really recognize the cadence of that particular knocking rhythm.

"Come in." Kaname wearily said. Perhaps his Butler found a new trainee? Butler Rio had always suggested that Kaname get another personal Butler. Kaname personally thought it was a waste to do that. His life was fairly predictable and Butler Rio was doing quite fine despite his old age. But those trainees never stuck around much. They had the odd tendency to burst into tears or tremble in fear whenever they were around him for some odd reason.

People had grown so _cowardly_ as of late.

Still, Kaname hadn't expected _him_, of all people, to come in.

"Master Kaname," A deep silky voice arrested his thoughts, "You had not arrived at your usual time, and I thought you could use some refreshments for your exhausting night."

Kaname stared at his ideal lover.

Silver was wearing a striking white business suit with matching gloves and shoes. His long hair had been pulled into a loose long braid that was draping over his left shoulder. In his gloved hand was a silver tray that had a decorative tea cup set and various small cuisine snacks. As usual, his face was perfection embodied and there was a compassionate look in his eyes for him. _Such a nice look._ Yes, he _should_ be pitied. He had had a long, confusing, and tiring night.

Kaname smiled slightly at him.

"Where can I place these items for you, my master?" Silver asked. "I don't want to be a distraction."

"I want a distraction." Kaname lightly said. Yes, what a thoughtful creature Silver was. "Bring those refreshments here."

Like a quiet river over smooth stones, Silver effortlessly moved towards him and placed the tray on his desk. "How do you like your tea, my master? Piping hot or slightly warm?"

Kaname raised his eyebrow. "Shouldn't you first ask me what type of tea I want?"

Silver smiled at him. "Don't you always prefer green mint tea with a slight hint of lemon and two cubes of Jamaican sugar?"

_He was right!_

Kaname stared. "How exactly do you know that?"

Silver looked slightly confused at the question. "You are my master. I should always know what best pleases you."

Something about the comment _warmed_ him. Most people assumed that when trying to impress him, they needed to do some grand thing. Quite frankly, Kaname was best impressed by those who did the small things. It was why he liked Hanabusa and Takuma so well. They knew how to manage details. Details, details. How important they were to him. But he highly doubted that his subjects would consider his desires in such small matters.

The fact that Silver even knew something so basic about him and had actually gone out of his way…

Kaname was actually _touched_.

Without warning he reached towards the man's hand and pulled him against him. Kaname was still sitting in his chair, but Silver yielded so beautifully to his pulling and their lips met in a soft and highly appreciated kiss. He felt Silver's smooth hands curl into his business shirt and he pulled himself closer into their kiss.

Kaname gripped the back of Silver's neck and deepen the kiss. At first, he had only intended a soft and chaste kiss, but to have his lover's body so close was too tempting. And what had started with the intention of a quick chaste kiss was quickly morphing into an entirely different affair.

Kaname's tongue probed the honeyed corners of his lover's mouth and the beautifully handsome man deeply moaned and clung tighter to his shirt.

This kiss wasn't going to be so innocent after all.

They broke apart for breath after a long moment.

Silver's heavy breathing on his neck sent goose bumps around his ear and a sharp pleasurable hum shot through his body. Silver rocked himself closer to the sitting Kaname and Kaname's interest was become more fleshly. Silver's hot breath against his neck and ear was also an arousing spot for him.

"My master, perhaps you desire a more…_fulfilling_ distraction?" Silver's warm hands were gently exploring his body, but even through his shirt, he could feel the sudden fiery flashes of fleshly desire play his body. One of Silver's naughty hands rested on his leather belt, as if silently asking for his permission. Permission for what exactly Kaname couldn't really guess –

Oh.

_Oh. _

Well…why the hell _not_?

Kaname wickedly smirked at him. "Please do. Please _distract_ me."

Silver met his wicked smile with a mischievous one of his own.

Silver made extremely quick work of his belt and zipped opened his black business pants. With one last burning look, he bent down and over Kaname's already half-forming erection. And without warning, he started his naughty task and Kaname's frustrations about his paperwork were completely forgotten.

* * *

As Silver slowly kissed his way down his master's hard shaft, he almost smiled. The gasping cries that echoed above him were quite...needy.

He deliberately pulled back and only nursed the tip of his master's manhood on his lips. He made a feather light sucking sound and Kaname's organ started to dribble, and he lapped hungrily at the throbbing ridges of the thick manly staff. Then he licked and pulled at the head of his master's organ only.

Master Kaname's groan told him everything he needed to know.

He continued to fondle, to lick, to suck at that thick luscious tip. But he only took the bare minimum, the slightly of inches, into his mouth. Just one little bitty itty inch was allowed into his avidly hot mouth. Kaname badly wanted in, but Silver just kept his lips aching tight around his tip – almost as if he was refusing to allow him further entrance.

Damn this man! Why was only that single solitary bit of flesh given the gift of being inside that inviting mouth!

"Please, _Silver_." Kaname couldn't believe he was beseeching the man!

But Silver seemed to be willfully ignoring his hoarse pleading from above. He steadily sucked on the tip and teasingly pulled a little bit more of him into him.

Kaname nearly lost it. "Open your mouth, my love, I can barely take it." Kaname's tone and anxious bucking of his narrow hips belittled his desperate frustration.

Silver wanted to raise a sarcastic eyebrow. Declarations of supposed love always seemed to happen when men were at their horniest.

Silver decided to take pity on his master.

As he enveloped more of the hard organ within his mouth, Silver lost himself in contemplating his master's proud length. He slid a hot tongue up his master's shaft. The throbbing organ – the size, the shape, even the taste – was seeping into his mouth.

He licked and caressed the thick appendage in a steady and certain rhythm. Silver had a surety to his movements. It was a surety that only came with highly perfect skill and experience.

Silver took a deep breathe and open his mouth wider – fully letting Kaname in. He nearly backed away as it suddenly seemed that his master wanted to choke him to death with his insistence on being in his mouth. Silver had to relax his throat completely and allow his master all the power of this movement.

His master's hips was arching and bucking into the warm interior of Silver's mouth, and he could barely even grasp for air. He allowed his master the freedom of his movements. The man gripped his head and hair painfully, and he thrusted himself into his mouth with abandon. Silver suddenly knew the man was very close to his release.

With one last caressing lick from Silver, Kaname exploded deep down inside Silver's throat. The majority of the white thick foam poured from the man and forced Silver to consume every last drop of his master's essence.

Heavily breathing, Kaname's mind was _still_ in a lustful greedy haze.

Without warning, Kaname pulled the lithe and sturdy body into his arms and hungrily kissed Silver's pliant and wet lips. He could barely even taste himself, and he moaned deeply into the lush interior of Silver's mellifluous mouth.

Deeply sighing, he felt his arousal resurface again. What a greedy little thing that part of his masculine anatomy was! Hadn't it just reached a mind-splitting climax a mere minute ago? As usually, he always wanted more and more and still more whenever he had the man into his arms. He pulled the potent and taut body closer against him, and his dexterous fingers were making quick work of his silver-haired lover's white pants.

Silver writhed and moaned as this master slowly probed between his pale flexing cheeks. He had felt his master's arousal resurfaced again, and his body thrilled with the knowledge that he had such an intoxicating and potent effect on this man. His own body suddenly felt like it had been consumed by an inferno, and everything was just…_so_ **hot**.

One sole finger sunk deep into his warm caressing passage. The sounds of Silver gasping sighs and soft sobs rang against his ear. Those delightfully desperate sounds nearly spurred him on, but Kaname didn't feel the need to rush this. He did not want to be associated with pain when he finally took Silver.

No, never again.

Gradually he worked three long fingers deep into Silver's shuddering, scorching channel. Without warning, he flipped the man around and gently slammed the man against his Oakwood desk. Pens, paper, documents, and memory hard-drives went flying, and he further lowered Silver's white pants to completely reveal his prepared entrance.

Bend over at his waist, Silver's right arm was trapped beneath him, and his left hand tightly grabbed the edges of his master's desk. His fingernails clawed into the wooden surface, and he spread his legs open further to allow his master better access.

"_**Kaname**_." Silver deeply groaned his master's name. There were a hundred things expressed in that one single word – ardor, need, desperation, wicked lust. Silver may not know what love truly felt like, being the shadow person he truly was, but he understood pleasure. He comprehended desire. He recognized passion.

And he venerated it.

Kaname slowly introduced his length into his lover's tight entrance, and they both frenziedly moan in unison. By darkness, it always seemed that whenever they became one, it was the always the first time.

"Always... so damn..._tight_..._Silver_." Kaname chokingly murmured as he sank deeper into that taut interior. He stopped for a moment for rest. He just wanted to savor this incredible pleasure for just one gluttonous moment.

"_Kaname_..**nhg**!" Kaname could feel the man's grasping need. The man beneath him wiggled a bit, but that only brought Kaname's thick organ that rested inside him - _deeper_ and _closer_ into him. Then Kaname hit that _perfect_ spot inside him.

Silver briefly wondered if it was possible to go insane due to total ecstatic pleasure.

Kaname leered softly as he bent Silver over his desk. Silver's arms were now curved at a tight angle, and both his hands tightly gripped the front top edges of Kaname's front desk. Kaname felt a ball of heat shoot across his body. He was trembling. His legs was shaking and jerking. He felt so incredible powerful at this moment. The delightfully submissive and willingly carnal being beneath him boundlessly excited him. He pulled his manhood halfway out, and without prior notice slammed back into Silver's moist channel.

That movement drew out a hoarse pleading scream from Silver. He did it _again_ to both their mutual delight.

He did it again and _again_ and **again**.

The deep moans of pleasure and desire was pulled from them both with every deep and plunging stroke of Kaname's hips.

And again and again and _again_ he _**dunged**_.

Kaname was spellbound himself at the intensity of this union. The only desire that existed in his world at the moment was forcing Silver to beg for his pleasure and scream his name. And he was reaping the fulfilling effects of that desire plentifully.

Far too quickly, Kaname was near his edge, and he thrust even deeper into that tight and squeezing hot core. In harmony, they both tumbled down the cliff of pleasure. Kaname ferociously came and tonelessly fell on top of his still panting lover's tingling body.

What a distraction _that_ was.

He pulled himself out and received a moan of disapproval from the man on his desk. The man's pale fingers lightly pulled up his white pants over his squirming hips. He turned to face a newly sitting Kaname and gave him a teasing smile. "I hope my distraction was…_adequate_, Master Kaname." His tired voice lazily drawled.

Kaname eyed the man before him. His clothes stuck to every nook of his suddenly sweaty body. His previously neat silver braided hair was in complete disarray. His bright-red lips were toughly claimed and bitted. And his ensnaring amethyst gray orbs dripped with carnal contentment.

_Perhaps he could have a third round?_ Kaname's libido horridly suggested.

But before he could enact that particular plan, his office phone rang.

Ring. Ring.

Kaname gave the machine an ugly glare.

Ring. Ring.

Sighing, Kaname picked up the phone. "This better be important." He snippily asked.

It was.

"My King," His Butler shakily said, "Your Korean Governor is on line two. There has been a massive vampire assault against 200 humans."

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** I don't even know how that lemon got in there. XD I wasn't even planning it, but it had just sprung up because it felt right. However, I'm not sure if I should keep warning you guys about upcoming lemons, because I think that ship would have sailed already if you clicked on the story in the first place and read up to this point. ;) But then, all readers are different, eh? Some readers might not want to read those things and would prefer a heads up in order to avoid those chapters, I think? Or am I making no sense? XD

Please leave me your thoughts about that in a review if you can. I'm not really too sure what to do. Anyway, so the plot thickens! Thanks for reading and please leave a little review! :D


	26. Chapter 25 Pets

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Senri Shiki dreamed of past memories.

_He was so young and he was also so alone. Senri currently had the appearance of a six-year-old human child, but his insight was of a person of greater years. Senri always knew he was different, and that difference scared him. He was different in so many ways that Senri knew the world would never care for him. _

_After all, why would the world care, if his own parents didn't? _

_In all the years of his life, Senri had seen his father only three times. His father was always 'away' and his mother... his mother had locked herself away again. Senri was so use to being alone now that it hardly bothered him anymore. Whenever he felt too sad or too lonely, he would sleep. Sleep was nice. Sleep was like dying but not so permanent. However, there was one person that would see him from time to time. Yet Senri really didn't know what to make of him. _

_His older cousin, Kaname Kuran, was intimidating to him. _

_Perhaps it was because his cousin was a pureblood and Senri was a noble vampire. Or perhaps Senri's and Kaname's personalities weren't the best match. Whatever the reason, Senri didn't really care much for Kaname's rare visits, and he always tried to distance himself from the older boy whenever he came over. _

_Even at such a young age, Senri Shiki knew that his cousin should not really be trusted. So, he continued on with his lonely nights and days and whenever he was particularly sad or hurt, he would sleep. _

_But one day, he found a gift from heaven. _

_Senri had been walking outside when he heard the light crying of a kitten. Intrigued by the sound, he looked everywhere for it and soon found it trapped underneath a particularly thorny rose bush. The baby cat was injured, and Senri spent the next three week slowly nursing the baby cat back to health. _

_In those three happy weeks, Senri Shiki was not alone. _

_Senri gave it fish and kitten milk formula. He played and bathed it. He even decided on a name for it – Mr. Mittens. Senri was so happy that he had something to play with! Mr. Mittens was something that he could care for and love and that could be called his very own. _

_Then one day he had been playing with Mr. Mittens by the river bridge in front of his large but always-so-lonely home. The night was just getting started, and Senri wondered if he should get one of his servants to go out and buy Mr. Mittens a kitty coat. It was getting so cold lately. Winter had yet to arrive, but the air and water had a cleaner scent. He had seen a kitty coat advertisement on his television yesterday, and he didn't want Mr. Mittens to get sick again._

_But suddenly, his cousin Kaname surprised him by appearing out of nowhere behind him. _

_Senri was swiftly uncomfortable. _

"_What a nice pet." A Little Kaname said as he looked over to them. Suddenly, his dark-brown eyes glimmered with a bright idea. "I think it would be the perfect gift to give to my new little sister." Little Kaname eyed the small cat. "It looks just like her." _

_Senri held onto Mr. Mittens tightly. "No, cousin. This is mine! Get another Mr. Mittens." _

_Kaname frowned at him. "But I want __**that**__ one." He held out his hand for it. "I'm your better, cousin. Give it to me." _

_Senri stuck out his small red tongue at his cousin Kaname. No, he would not! Mr. Mittens was his only friend! With a loud voice, he said, "No! You always get everything. This is mine, Kaname." _

_Little Kaname looked at him darkly, as if he was an insect he wanted to step on. Senri had abruptly been afraid and had slightly loosened his grip on his first friend, Mr. Mittens. _

_As if he sensed Senri's sudden fear of him, Kaname dark eyes gleamed. Then he reached forward and ripped the kitten from Senri's tiny hands. Without missing a beat, little Kaname threw the precious little thing over the bridge and into the icy-cold rushing river below. _

_Senri wept. _

"_That will teach you to never disobey me again." Little Kaname quaintly said as he marched away from the distressed young boy. _

_And Senri never had, but he forever secretly detested his older cousin. _

Senri woke up with a start. His cell phone was ringing anxiously. Rubbing his eyes and without checking who was calling, he picked it up. "Hello." He yawned.

"Senri! What the hell is Rima doing?" Takuma Ichijo growled out. "Stop her!"

Something cold hit his stomach at hearing that man's voice all of a sudden, but then Senri rolled his eyes. He was not going to be the poor fool who rained on his girlfriend's private parade. Whatever the parade was, Senri had learned that Rima could not be stopped. But he was suddenly very curious, and curiosity prevented him from focusing on that cold thing in his stomach, "Stop her from doing what?"

"Her helping Yuki in her divorce against Kaname!" He hissed.

Yuki. Divorce. Kaname.

Senri blinked.

He looked at his cell phone for a moment.

"Hello? Are you still there? Hello?" Takuma's panicky voice called out.

"Well, it's about time." Senri muttered as he rubbed his forehead.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Pets**

* * *

**Present**

The Korean Royal Vampire Governor, Byung Gi Kim, prayed for a lightning bolt to hit him. Sure, it would hurt and perhaps he could die, but at least he wouldn't have to face the frighteningly expressionless face of his Foreign Vampire King.

The fact that his King could terrify him so fully and still be hundreds of miles away from his current location did not bore well for the wearied middle-aged Korean Governor.

"Explain to me how this happened." King Kuran blankly stared at him across the large virtual screen of his projected video camera phone. By darkness, the man was completely expressionless. It was a known fact that the calmer the King was when hearing bad news, the angrier he actually was. Why? Why couldn't this have happened to the Chinese Vampire Governor? Why did it have to be in his domain?

"It was a sudden up-rising, my liege! I did not know –" He began sweating.

But in a still calm manner, King Kuran interrupted him. "How is it that you did not know what was going on in your own homeland court?"

Silence.

_Please, precious lightning bolt. I am right here. I'll even hold up a metal pole for you._ Byung Gi thought to himself. "There is a small, rebellious faction of Korean Purebloods that feel that the quarterly tributes are too much and –" He was stopped again in mid-sentence.

King Kuran's dark-brown eyes slightly flashed a killing red. What made the act even more terrifying was that his facial expression had not chance one bit.

"You aren't possibly suggesting that I should lower the tribute amounts, are you?" King Kuran's voice was toneless. "You aren't _possibly_ suggesting that I should _reward_ this act...are you?"

By all that is dark and unholy! Clearly, Byung Gi Kim was suicidal. Perhaps today was the day he was destined to die.

"Of-Of course not, my liege." His whispered hoarsely. "I was simply informing you of a possible motive for this attack."

Another silence.

"And what have you done to fix this situation, my dear governor?" The King lightly asked.

And Byung Bi Kim, Korean Royal Vampire Governor, pathetically stammered his answer.

* * *

**The Following Night**

Haruka remembered his father's mocking laughter. _"I'm not cheating on your mother, stupid boy. She has no cause or reason to renounce me after all I have done for her. But make no mistake about it, you will be punished for your indiscretion. But I need to think of an acceptable one."_

Listless, Haruka reflected on yesterday's events as he trekked aimlessly around the Kuran Palace Multiplex. His father left in the day due to some grand emergency. But at the current moment, Haruka could care less about his father's problems.

His father had completely denied his accusation and laughed him off. That more than anything else made Prince Haruka even angrier and hurt. Father had complete dismissed him. Father did not take his concerns seriously. It hurt. It really, really hurt.

_"Never harm my possession or anything of mine again. I will not lightly spare you a second time. Do you understand?" _

And if completely disrespecting him wasn't enough, his father had then threatened him. His father had threatened him - his only son. _**Pain**_. There was so much pain in his heart right now. _**Pain**_.

He was just trying to make sure that his family could be okay. He did not want his mother to cry. He did not want his sister to be sad.

But his father had just laughed away his valid concerns and then threatened him.

All over some…hidden _lover_ who father believed was some type of treasured possession.

Who was that strange man anyway?

"_Why did you just attack me, child? Do you know who I am? And whom I belong to? Do you wish to face my master's wrath? Your father is my master. He will decide when I die." _

Master.

That man called his father his master. Haruka was confused. That doesn't sound right. It seemed…_odd_ for his father's hidden concubine to refer to him as 'master'.

_"You have nothing to lose because of me, my dear son. And...you have much to gain."_ And those words sent a chill up his spinal cord for no apparent reason. The sentence had been spoken in such a gentle way. Especially those three words – my dear son - words, he had never heard an older male voice refer to him like that.

_"My master, you are blessed with such a thoughtful and amazing son."_

It was the first-time someone complimented him before his father in his presence. Sure, Uncle Takuma would protect and Uncle Hanabusa would deflect, but to just say something kind about him?

This was the first time in his long recent memory.

Haruka was strangely _moved_ by it.

_"Your son is quite loyal to you, my master. Your son thought I was a threat to your family. He was trying to protect you from an enemy."_ That was actually Haruka's sole reason for attacking the man in the first place. Of all the people to get it, why was it _that_ man? Why couldn't own his father have gotten that?

"_In the face of such passion, I was not able to inform him of my complete submission and ownership to you very well."_ But those words: complete submission? Ownership? Haruka was further confused. If father was having an affair, which he _clearly_ was, those types of words shouldn't be _used_ in a loving relationship. It almost seemed like the man _himself_ believed himself to be an...an _object_...and not a _person_ with _real_ _feelings_.

_"Please forgive me for my failure, my master."_ And why did he take the blame? Surely, he too would also be fearful of his father's fury. It almost seemed like the man was trying to...protect him?

Protect him?

_"Neither is it your son's."_ No fault. It wasn't Haruka's fault. That was clearly a lie, it _was_ Haruka's fault. So, why had that person _not_ blame him?

Suddenly, Haruka's ears heard the sound of music in a garden. Haruka was immediately rooted to the spot. It sounded like a violin. Haruka couldn't recognize the song, but it was an oddly sad melody that greatly intrigued him. Without realizing it, his feet drew him nearer and nearer to the sound of a sadly playing violin.

* * *

Silver was resting.

As he played his violin without thought of a real tune, for the first time in this new life of his, Silver Night, the Doll of Desire, the King of Pleasure, and the Moonlight Siren could finally relax. His Master Kaname would be gone for a few days and thus he, Silver Night, could rest his ideal lover persona, for the time being, and really regroup his position and thoughts.

All was well and good for him at this very moment.

All his plotting was slowing coming into fruition. He was slowly gaining his master's love; he had two new pawns to play in this game, and his true self was speaking to him more and more.

Things were going great!

Okay, so it wasn't great for his master, his children, and the world in general, but he believed he was well due a small break. To pretend to have the positive emotions that one did not really have was a lot of hard work, believe it or now. He was a shadow person. He was an incomplete person. And while he could experience the highest level of pleasure and the lowest level of pain, his emotional responses to those experiences were always somewhat muted in some way.

Muted emotions.

Things like happiness, or peace, or love, or joy was something that Silver just didn't understand. He just didn't know what those positive emotional responses felt like. However, when his true self would speak, Silver would have a small taste of those emotions, and from that he knew how to replica them well. But there was one emotion he could never counterfeit splendidly to himself.

_Love_.

He was never confident about his acting of love. There was always a sense that that particular emotion was something he could never have.

On the contrary, he was more familiar with the negative emotions. Anger, hatred, sadness, and emptiness – Silver was acquainted with those emotions perfectly. It seemed to him that his true self had locked away all his positive emotions and only allowed him to really feel the negative ones.

_Why_ was that the case?

Silver paused in his playing.

He sensed the presence of a young pureblood child. Shouldn't those children have left the compound when their father had left?

His hopes for a relaxing few days were suddenly gone in a flash.

Silver looked on at the young male teen which was carefully approaching him. Silver noted the child's conflicted looks. When the boy stood before him, he stared at the seated Silver unabashedly.

They studied each other again for a long period of time. This was the second time they had done so.

Then out of the blue, the boy said, "Thank you." Prince Haruka looked at him firmly. "Thank you for what you did."

Silver was completely caught off guard. He put his instrument at the side and looked at this odd child.

One day he punches, the next day he thanks? Silver would have thought that it would have taken far longer for the child to realize what he had cunningly done for him, but for him to catch on so quickly -

"But I still don't get why a somewhat nice guy like yourself is trying to destroy my family." Prince Haruka suddenly seemed to find his voice. "Stop having an affair with my father. You are going to make my mother cry."

Silver stared.

The child did not get it at all.

Slowly, Silver said. "I am not what you think I am, my dear." He made his tone kind and his deep voice warm. That seemed to be the best combination because the prince seemed to focus intensely on what he was saying. "I would _never_ seek to rival the importance of your mother to your father." That was a bald-faced lie, but who was really going to inform the child of that?

Silver decided that he would test something. He slowly got up from his seated position on the marble garden bench and walk closer towards the oddly passionate but strangely so gloomy child. If Silver correctly remembered some of his master's past words about his son - words absently spoken after they exhausted themselves in 'love' making - it wasn't any wonder why the child was like this.

Silver stared him calmly in the eyes. "I am a Doll."

"What's a Doll?" The boy blinked at him repeatedly.

Silver looked at him in sheer incredulity. He couldn't possibly _not_ know! He was a male, for darkness's sake! He...he _couldn't_ be serious. Surely, he would have _heard_ -

Suddenly embarrassed, Silver whispered out the first thing that came to mind. "I am...a type of...special pet." Well, that was a slightly better..._explanation_...than enslaved vampire sex slave, wasn't it?

Goodness. This...is... _mortifying_.

"A pet?" The boy asked confused. "What? I don't understand what you are saying? You're a person."

Silver really was speechless. If the daughter embodied innocent naivety, could the son embody gullible passion?

Silver reached out and sweep his fingers slightly through the boy's medium-length wild hair. The texture was similar to his master's but there was a soft zaniness to it that Silver thought felt oddly familiar. "I keep your father's bed warm during the day." Silver finally said. Really, he did not want to spell it out for the child. Hadn't he gone through the birds and the bees already?

"Oh." Silver finally noticed that the boy had become a tomato. "_Oh_." He rubbed his arms, suddenly embarrassed as well.

Silver swiftly realized it. The boy was untouched by carnal caresses.

The boy's hot blush when he had lightly sweep away his hair in a deceivingly gently manner gave him away. Silver's calculating mind started to gauge the boy's reaction to Silver's physical presence.

This was a golden opportunity.

It seemed that the child was starved for masculine affection. Now, whether that affection could be given through platonic or romantic means remains to be seen. However, it was too quick for Silver to judge where the boy inclined with his sexuality. Not that it matters – his father did seem to lean both ways, and the apple never falls far away from the tree. So, Silver could use him -

_**That seems like me.** A small rare voice that was not his own revealed itself._

A chilling wave of realization overtook Silver then. His natural tendencies to immediately manipulate and beguile a new victim was soon cut short.

This child had something about him that seemed like his true self.

_How?_

What exactly about this child was like his true self?

Could he be his _key_?

**To Be Continued**

* * *

A/N: And so the plot thickens! And I can't believe I'm in the third month of writing this story. Wow! XD Thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	27. Chapter 26 Pawns

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago**

Zero's silver eyebrows twitched.

He had picked up his ringing cell phone when he recognized the number of it belonging to his to-be-his-wife-tomorrow's number. However, he heard no questioning voice on the other end. Instead, he heard one of Beyonce's old hit singles being loudly proclaimed in the background.

"All the single ladies, all the single ladies, all the singles ladies, put your hands up!"

What. _The_. **Hell**?

Sayori and Rima were the ones responsible of Yuki's Bachelorette party. Zero had his doubts about Rima, but in the end, he was fine with it because Sayori was also helping with the plans. Zero had assumed that because Sayori was such a calm, collected and mild-mannered woman that the ladies would probably be spending their Bachelorette party at an upscale museum or library, or they would have a girly sleepover or something. But that music in the background! That wasn't library or museum music! That was...no! Zero didn't even want to even _think_ it!

Was his to-be-wife-tomorrow, Yuki Cross-Kuran, at a club for her Bachelorette Party?

"My goodness! Can you look at his abs? You could grate cheese on them!" A voice that strangely sounded like _Sayori_ loudly proclaimed.

What. _The_. **Hell**?

And what _type_ of club were those women at?

"Go Seiren! Go Rima! Go Yuki!" A voice that sounded like a fabulously drunk Ruka cheered. "Pump those hips! Snap those wrists!"

Then his cell phone went silent.

Zero looked at the members of his Bachelor Party. Cross, Yagari, Kain, Aido, Ichijo, Shiki, and Kuran started at his expressionless face. "What do women typically do at Bachelorette Parties?" Zero speechlessly wondered mostly to himself. He was still in complete disbelief as to what he just unexpectedly heard.

Aido smirked at him and happily lied through his pearly teeth. "I believe they bake cupcakes and finalize the wedding plans."

What. _The_. **Hell**?

Zero Kiryu stared at the members of his supposed Bachelor Party. He massaged his forehead. "I really need to get new friends." He muttered to himself.

"I have an ancient grandpa." He pointed to Kaien Cross who seemed to keel over.

"An old geezer." He pointed to Toga Yagari, who glared daggers at him.

"A cold-blooded player." He pointed to Hanabusa Aido, who smirked.

"A living statue." He pointed to Akatsuki Kain, who just stared back at him.

"A guy who lives in the fourth dimension." He pointed at the falling asleep Senri Shiki.

"A creepily happy person." He pointed to Takuma Ichijo, who chocked on his tea while still eating a piece of his cake.

"And my past foe and soon-be-be brother-in-law at my own Bachelor Party." Zero gave Kaname a weary frown and shook his head in shame.

"I really need to get some more friends." Zero muttered tiredly to himself.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Pawns**

* * *

**Present **

The Vampire Hunter's Association was bloodthirsty.

As the acting Vice President of the Hunter's Association Kaito was livid. "I say that we just nuke the bloodsucking bastards." Kaito Takamiya growled out. "200 innocent human beings are dead. Not because of some mindless Level Es, but because of pureblooded vampires! This is obviously a declaration of war!" He roared to the assembled heads of the East Conference Hunter's Association.

There was a thunderous agreement in the crowd.

"Settle down." Toga Yagari hissed as he loudly slammed his cane on the floor. Oh, he knew exactly how Kaito felt because he felt exactly the same way. 200 innocent people gone - just like that! What the hell was King Kuran even doing? It was these very types of things that he was supposed to prevent.

_Just one more reason for Toga Yagari to hate that pureblooded bastard. _

And Toga hated Kuran – he hated that man from the very depths of his being. Even though he knew it was wrong, even if he knew it wasn't right – Toga really did hate King Kuran.

If that stupid, stupid vampire had _just_ _stayed_ by Zero's side on his wedding day, Zero wouldn't have been _alone_ when he'd been _attacked_ by those radical vampire fanatics. By the Sword of Blood! Those bastard extremists said it was a sin for a pureblood to love, much less, marry an ex-human. Toga had warned the young couple of some of the more dangerous sentiments of their upcoming marriage in the vampire world, but naive Yuki said she didn't care and Zero had just shrugged his valid concerns off.

Toga had watched the young couple like a hawk until their wedding day. He felt it was his duty to protect the last member of the ancient Kiryu clan. Even though he had full faith in Zero's abilities, he didn't have any assurances from the vampires he was slowly befriending. But once they got to their pre-wedding night, Toga was starting to relax his guard. If something was going to happen to Zero, Toga had reasoned out that it would have happened before Zero got married. After all, who would be dumb enough to harm Kuran's brother-in-law even if he was an ex-human? So, Toga knew that the days before the wedding was the most likely time that enemy vampires were going to attack, and he had hypothesized that it would have happened near Zero's Bachelor Party if something was going to happen. After all, if he was a radical vampire, pureblood extremist, that would have been the best time for an attack. Bachelor Parties are notorious for their reckless pastimes.

But like the old man in a young man's body that Zero was, he preferred a quieter Bachelor Event, and Toga had been so grateful. So, on the following day, Toga's guard was completely relaxed. He didn't think they would have tried anything on the day of the wedding, so he was relaxed. Too relaxed. Too comfortable. Then he got that morning call from the Association and decided to see what the problem was about because he was the newly instated president. Zero had been so disappointed that he wouldn't be able to be his best man, but he had decided to call Kuran to ask him to be his stand-in. Toga had been so relived at that too. After all, what person, human or vampire, was crazy enough to attack an ex-human twin-combined vampire hunter groom with a pureblood stand-in best man?

But then Kuran said he had left Zero's apartment early, because he needed to pick up his dry-cleaned wedding clothes, and Zero had been all alone when he was attacked.

So on that dreadful day, the day that was supposed to be his proudest, Toga's worst fears were realized the second time he let his guard down.

Toga had never been able to forgive himself from that day on.

So Toga also hated himself. He should have just ignored the Association's meeting and stayed with his student. If Toga had stayed, he would have given his life to save that young brother. No, Zero was even better than a brother. Toga had cared for the kid like he was his own nephew – no – even better than that, Toga had cared for Zero like he was his own son. That young man was the closest he ever had to a son.

Zero must have been _so_ scared and _so_ alone.

His son, not by blood but by heart, had been attacked, kidnapped, and murdered on his wedding day.

If he had just ignored that pointless Hunter's Association meeting, his son would still be alive right now.

If that stupid bloodsucker had just stayed… His precious student, his little brother, his son would still be alive right now.

So, while Toga desperately hated Kuran, he also hated himself even more.

Because if stupid Kuran or stupid Toga had been there, Zero would still be alive today.

Toga was a man who was used to losing his closest people, but how the hell does one lose an entire family? He lost all the Kiryus to vampires.

"Settle down." President Toga repeated. "We are first going to met with King Kuran, and then we can discuss what we can do afterwards."

"Why should we even listen to a word that bloodsucker even says?" His vice president hissed. "He probably commanded the assault himself."

Toga glared at his Vice President. Sure, King Kuran was a hateful bastard, but even he knew that the man wasn't that stupid. Humans weren't just weak and tasty snacks for vampires anymore, and he knew the majority of the vampire world's members knew it. That was why they still hid themselves. All that bullshit about vampires being top predators and the more advanced super species is hogwash nowadays.

In a dark part of Toga's heart, he almost wished that there was a war between the two races. He wanted to erase every last vampire off the face of this earth. And he would gleefully do it too if he knew it would bring his dead son back.

However, his rational side always prevailed against that dark desire.

The conference room phone suddenly rang. Toga and Kaito looked at the in-coming phone number and stared at each other. Then Kaito's wrinkled age-spot hand pressed the receiver button.

The large projected video screen of the caller appeared. He was dressed in a basic black business suit and white gloves. He looked calmly towards the crowd of angry human hunters. While his face was completely expressionless, his dark-brown eyes were gleaming.

"Wonderful, if it isn't the Head Bloodsucker in Chief himself, King Kaname Kuran?" Kaito sneered. "You better have a _very_ good explanation!"

* * *

Things were changing too rapidly for Silver's liking.

After that small exchange with his master's son, his master's daughter had found them together in the garden.

Juri cheerfully announced her presence.

"Golly Wally, Mr. Evil!" Juri's matching dark-brown eyes glowed with mirth, "You should have told me you were going to meet with Silver Angel Man!"

The prince had looked at his sister like she had grown two heads, and Silver had watched the twin children interaction with something that felt like deep...amusement.

As he sat back down on his marble lounge bench, Silver carefully studied them as he reorganized his mind. As usual, his calculating mind could not resist asking it first question when dealing with something new. That first question was: how could these changes be used for his advantage?

"Don't call him Silver Angel Man, you silly nitwit!" Haraku heatedly said to his sister. "What kind of nickname is that?"

Juri huffed. "Silver Angel Man didn't seem to mind much when I called him that before." The princess wagged her finger. "And his first name is Silver! Silver Night! Silver the Knight!" Juri pumped her fist in the air. "He saved you so validly from father's anger yesterday, Haruka." Her eyes sparkled. "You were like a damsel in distress, and father was kinda like a dragon, and Silver Night, the Silver-Haired Knight with Lavender Light, protected you from father's dragon wrath!"

Haruka's young face went blank. Damn Juri and her half-assed fantasy stories!

Silver silently watched his two new…pawns? Yes, pawns. These two pawns entered this dangerous game most unexpectedly. Silver had known of their existence previously, due to the various exchanges with his master after his many hard night's work, and it was obvious to him that his master cared for both of his children, but how he expressed his care to each of them was entirely different.

Haruka Kuran and Juri Kuran.

Silver decided to just study them for now before he plotted anything further. After all, now was probably not the best time to do anything rash and he...he just wanted to observe this two children some more. Both were ridiculously familiar and triggered something inside him, something that even his true self responded to, but it still felt so..so alien to be around people who could cause something to trigger inside him.

"Don't just make up weird descriptions of what happened yesterday, Juri." Haruku lightly flicked his cheekily smiling sister's forehead. "It wasn't funny."

"Oh come on, Haruka!" His sister rubbed her injured forehead in irritation. "You have to admit that you kinda deserved a little of father's anger!" She pouted. "You were attacking his poor friend!"

"Friend?" Haruka shot out. "He's not a friend! He's father's -" Then the prince's brown eyes shot to Silver's, and he saw the man raised one of his eyebrows. His cheeks burned red with embarrassing knowledge. No! He couldn't corrupt his poor sister's naive mind! She would faint and die from shock! " -..._Bodyguard_?" He hurriedly lied.

_Bodyguard? _

Silver shook his head in complete amusement now. Well, one _could_ see it that way. Hmm.

Haruka Kuran was surely something.

The boy was…impulsive…to say the least. To say that Silver had been caught off guard by the child's actions was the greatest of understatements. Silver experienced something like a playground fight.

Still, the boy punched him in his face. What a little punk! Of all the things to hit, you go for the face? While it sounded so very vain and arrogantly superficial, Silver knew that his face was one of his most valuable weapons and assets. Silver's face was a face that immediately attracted attention and awe. He knew no one in the world looked like him and combined with the fact that he took great care in ensuing that it was perfect all the time had not been an easy feat in the least.

Contrary to youthful and naïve urban lore, beauty is incredibly important.

To have beauty was to have power.

And as a lowly Doll, if Silver was going to survive and achieve his true goal, he had to make the most of all his assets.

So, he had practiced, studied, honed, and maintain his beauty with such a maniacal exactness, that all his beauty regimes were engraved in him. As a man, it was something of a sore spot to him. But for him to survive, he needed to be considered beautiful, rather than handsome. The fact of the matter was that the overwhelming majority of Doll owners were male and males, whether heterosexual or homosexual or insert-blank-sexual-orientation, would usually prefer someone beautiful or pretty in their arms when they slept together.

Silver had to make sure he was both beautiful and handsome, but more beautiful than anything else. This reasoning was what was responsible for how he currently chose to present himself to the world at large. The current length of his silver hair was a prime example of this reasoning. Long hair is more associated with femininity, and females, by and large, were all pretty. If he was a free or a completed person, Silver could imagine that he would have preferred a short hair style. Long hair was so time consuming.

"See! Knight or Bodyguard – what exactly is the difference? " Juri placed her hands on her hips and pointed her nose in the air. "You should always listen to your big sister, Haruka! I have the power of feminine intuition!"

Silver's purple-gray eyes twitched. _Juri_ was the older twin?

That's a bit...unexpected.

"You're only older by two freaking minutes, Juri." Haruka rolled his eyes. "Not exactly a big difference."

"HA!" Juri shouted gleefully. "Two minutes is a great deal of time! Anything can drastically change in two minutes!"

And as Silver Night continued to watch these two children, he felt a strangely _warming_ emotional wave beat against his cold dark soul.

* * *

Kaname was so furious that he nearly had a heart attack induced by sheer rage.

Those blasted Korean Purebloods! This was the third insurrection he had to deal with them ever since he became the Far Eastern Vampire King ninety years ago! They were almost as troublesome as the Chinese Purebloods Families!

By darkness, he would not allow this to happen again. **Never again**. He was going to make a vicious example out of them these time. Their bloody corpses will serve as the best of warnings to future rebellion leaders. Clearly, that was the only way to enforce his total rule for future generations.

Kaname had spoken to his Korean Governor and had discovered that the man had already had a cover-up story for the human population. That cover story held that the massacre of those 200 humans was the result of a terror attack by anti-technology extremists. The Korean human media had accepted the story and were currently running with it.

Next, he had to meet with those accursed hunters, and they were at their most difficult best. President Yagari and Vice President Takamiya had held grudge against him ever since Zero's wedding day murder. So, Kaname usually made his wife deal with them whenever he needed them for something, but currently his wife was not in his reach. The hunters were expectedly angry, but Kaname had be able to pacify them with his new-found solution to his rebel problem. Now, he needed to arrange a meeting with the Human Korean Vampire Ambassador to personally smooth out the rough edges of their retributive agreement.

But Kaname's aggravation was only just beginning.

With the aid of Kai Ryunei, one of his best loyalist subjects and a member of his outside executive assistant staff, Kaname had been able to immediately get to work the moment he arrived at his sky-scraping city bureau office, the 3000 ft Kuran Royal Tower located in the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The rest of his staff members were just coming in and the entire tower seemed to buzz into a panicked hive mentality. However, he needed to assemble all his inner circle members, _Yuki included_, because he had come to a very important final solution in regards to the more rebellious factions of his realm.

All rebels to his state would be hunted down, jailed, and mercilessly executed.

And he would start with the Korean Rebel Purebloods.

Yet Kai Ryunei wildly ran into his office without warning. Kaname stared at the man. The man never rushed towards him when something was unimportant and _considering_ his day….

As he rushed into the office, Kai presented Kaname with a small slim black envelope with a golden seal." I have been told to give this to you, my King. This is an emergency summoning of the Global Vampire Council of the Ten Rulers. They all want to meet with you regarding this event."

Kaname just _stared_ at him.

Of all the _unwanted_ of things to occur – this was the _most_ unneeded! He _detested_ those gatherings from the deepest corners of his heart.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N: **Ha ha! Another update! :D Thanks for reading and please leave a review! It only takes three seconds! ;) **  
**


	28. Chapter 27 Ruler's Council

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

He regained his old self again.

And the millions of memories of his ageless previous life of before slammed into his mind like a hurricane. The memories! The places! The people! Millions upon millions upon millions of recollection after recollection after recollection assaulted his mental world repeatedly.

The current, Kaname Kuran, could not take it.

Left Behind. **Power**. Rage. Sadness. Anger. Pain. Hurt. _Hurt_. _**Hurt**_

**Despair**. Pain. _Lost_. Lost. Lost. Lost. Lost. _Lost_. Lost.

_Alone_. Always alone. **Forever alone**. Alone. Alone. _**Alone**_.

Even though Kaname retained the knowledge, he had to seal those personal memories of his past existence far, _far_ away from his inner mind just so that he could cope with the modern world around him. When his uncle-descendant had murdered his sibling's child to restore him into this world, the child had not completely died. Kaname I had immediately realized that the only reason why his uncle-descendant had wanted to renew him was because he wanted his massive power as his own personal slave.

Kaname Kuran I had been a great and powerful ruler in his first life, and Rido Kuran wanted to be the next ruler of this modern world.

But Kaname Kuran, first and second, would never bow their knee in subjection.

So while Kaname Kuran II's body was mercilessly ripped apart, Kaname Kuran I retained his soul and forced himself to become dormant until their body had matured. And when Rido was finally killed, it was then that Kaname Kuran I and Kaname Kuran II had decided to melt themselves together and become one full being.

Consequently, the combined Kaname Kuran was more powerful than he ever was, but the knowledge! The memories. The pain. _The sadness_. The loneliness. _The aloneness_. **The despair.**

When he was still young in this new modern world he feared loneliness more than death. Thus receiving and blending the memories of his first existence with himself had confirmed that his fear was _very_ real. So real and so possible and so _likely_ to happen again.

Despite the overwhelming knowledge that his previous existence had given him, Kaname realized that he was a lost and unknown man in this now renewed world.

So, even after Rido's death, the currently merged and complete Kaname Kuran was _still_ alone and powerless.

But then again...not quite.

He had a sister-descendant. Another being that shared his blood. Another being that could stand by his side forever. Another being that would prevent the cruelty of his worst fear from being realized – the fear of being utterly alone and abandoned.

However, he would never be alone again if he kept her by his side forever. He would never let her get away from him. She was his.

But his power was _still_ no power.

He was first and foremost born _to rule_. He once was known as Great King Kaname Kuran.

But now, he would never be satisfied with being a _mere_ king. He had a being beside him that could prevent his loneliness forever. Therefore, he was now _undefeatable_.

Kaname Kuran thus looked upon this very confusing, always changing, and extremely complex modern world and he had decided that he was going to rule it entirely.

But he would not be satisfied with being a mere king - he wanted even more.

He would rule _everything_. He would conquer all that existed.

Thus, history will forever remember him, not as Great King Kaname Kuran, but as _Great Emperor Conqueror Kamane Kuran the Only_.

He would rule this entire planet as long as time lasted.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Ruler's Council **

* * *

**Present**

As Takuma Ichijo's private jet blasted through ten different time zones, the tired blond had come to the troubling conclusion that his self-imposed exiled vacation was over. He just got off the phone with the hysterical and over dramatic Hanabusa Aido ("Those stupid Mayans where off by one hundred freaking years!" Aido had screamed.), and Takuma sighed.

Yuki was divorcing Kaname.

Honestly, Takuma wasn't as surprised as he should have been. Kaname can be quite..._cruel_...and Yuki, even when they _were_ together, just didn't have that _spark_ she had when they were all at the academy. Takuma knew it was because she wasn't at peace with herself. She didn't mourn correctly when she lost Zero and their child, and then she went crazy for five years. She saw the dark side of the world that Kaname and Zero had always shielded her from, and that _really_ messed her up.

While Kaname would always be the scariest person in the world to Takuma, despite being a relatively good friend to him, Takuma had learned that Yuki could be quite scary as well. By darkness, blood never lies, does it?

Yet even now, Takuma could see that the inner circle of Kaname and Yuki was splitting, though it was currently unknown to the King. The King couldn't be left in the dark for very long, however. Takuma had just learned that the tabloids had found out about it. And they were going to gleefully leak that information to the public early. Takuma had tried to prevent it, but to no avail.

Two days.

In two days, the world was going to learn it.

So he needed to make sure that Kaname learned about it first and quickly.

Takuma sighed a second time. _He_ was going to have to inform the man himself. He could only imagine the untold horrors if one of the others did it.

Akatuski couldn't do it because that man didn't have the finesse for these sorts of things. ("I believe you are going to be involved in a divorce dispute. Will you need any weapons or soldiers for the tasks, my King?")

Hanabusa would have made the situation worst. ("The woman has lost it Kaname-sama! She absolutely lost it!")

Ruka would be in gaping disbelief. ("Divorce…you…Yuki…yes?")

Seiren was an even _worst_ choice then Akatuski. ("You will have a divorce, my King. The date is in one week.")

Rima would grin evilly at her client's enemy. (Over the safety of a video phone call at a hided location, Rima would say, "You better just bend over and enjoy it, because I'm going to take everything I can get, ya kingly bastard-ness.")

Surprisingly, Takuma knew that Senri would only be too happy to inform his secretly despised cousin of his soon-coming lost. ("I hope you lose Yuki forever, just like how I lost Mr. Mittens, cousin.")

And Darkness forbid, if Kaname learned of his impending divorce from an e-mail or worst _the tabloids. _

Takuma winced. Even _he_ didn't want that last option to occur. So, really, Takuma was the only option.

He sighed again for a third time. "Perhaps I should write my will just in case?" He said to himself.

* * *

**The Following Night**

The one thing that all the members in the International Ruler's Council Hall (which was located on a neutral man-made island in the greater Pacific Ocean) had in common were that they were all Pureblood Vampire Rulers.

Other than that – not much else.

"I keep saying at every annual council that we should just _eliminate_ the entire human species. Just eliminate them and these types of _petty_ problems would not even need our attention." The European Vampire King, Maxwell Von Anderson, dramatically projected his voice to the collected 10 Vampire Rulers. "But _no_, we still continue to hide ourselves like scared _rabbits_!" Maxwell complained out loud. "I _never_ thought I would see the day when we wolves would need to ask a rabbit's permission to _eat_." His short blond hair was lightly slicked back, and a few of its tendrils covered his icy blue eyes. He whipped his offending pieces of hair back in frustration.

"Leave it to an Old Worlder to think that _genocide_ is an acceptable response." The Central American and Caribbean Island Vampire Queen, Clara Brown, slowly said as she rolled her brown eyes. One of her long brown fingers held a small pink nail filer. She resumed her manicure still completely annoyed because this unexpected meeting had interrupted her vacation tour of her territory.

"Perhaps Maxwell, you have forgotten that humans _outnumber_ us by the _billions_." One of Kaname's few allies hissed. "This isn't the Dark Ages!" The Australian and New Zealand Vampire King, Charles Smith, shook his head. He was extremely tall and well-built, but he was currently bending over his desk holding his head. His medium length red hair covered his sleepy golden eyes. He was sloppily dressed and was massaging his headache from the hangover of his day before. He always had the _worst_ of luck. The one time he was able to relax from all his problems, they suddenly call an emergency meeting! Why did this meeting have to occur a day after his eldest son's birthday?

A mature female voice commanded. "Be quiet." That mature voice belonged to the Central and Southern African Vampire Queen, Biashara Bimnono. Her smooth thick intonation silenced the entire room.

As the oldest person in the whole entire world, the Central and Southern Vampire African Queen was a frighteningly powerful creature. While she didn't look a day over thirty, she was ancient even during Kaname's first existence. Her hair had over one hundred small tight braids that reached towards her ebony ankles. She was dressed in a simple light green dress, and her golden thick jewelry gleamed on her rich ebony skin. Yet despite her command, her black eyes were completely uninterested and bored with all of them. Nevertheless, all the inhabitants in the room knew that if the woman wanted to destroy them all at this moment, she could - theoretically anyway - do it. She knew it and they all knew it as well. And she had been tempted many times to do so before.

So Maxwell pouted, but said nothing further. Even though _he_ was the second oldest of the vampires at this Ruler's Council, he knew it was best to treat the Isolationist African Queen with the upmost respect. As devious and evil as he was, he remembered a warning she once leveled at him so very long ago. _"Before you ever fulfill your wish of destroying the humans, I will kill you myself, foolish child."_ And if nothing else, Maxwell _knew_ those words were true. Biahsara didn't really give one hoot about her kind the majority of the time, but she _did_ like humans – for whatever odd ball reason. And he knew that one day his life would be ended by that woman's dark hand. It was going to happen one day, yet it was a strangely comforting thing for him to know.

After all, who _else_ in this world would then be able to defeat him?

Nevertheless, Queen Bimnono slid her dark glaze to King Kuran. She nodded her head giving him the floor to speak. "Please continue what you were saying, Kaname."

Finally regaining the floor and attention after Maxwell had obstructed him – yet again - and pontificate his always-heard and always-repeated anti-human speech, Kaname said, "The Korean Purebloods are a typical rebellious faction in my realm." Kaname tiredly maintained. "However, the issue has been solved. We've convinced the human population that it was another terrorist attack and I will make the acceptable reparations to the respective human government."

The Middle Eastern Vampire King, Aarik Naser's, dark-gray eyes came alive with fury. He hotly glared at Kaname. "Couldn't you have used _another_ term? Do you know how that is going to affect the situation in _my_ realm?" His sun-kissed lips pressed tightly in a thin line. "That blasted American Human's War on Terror is _still_ going on after all these _decades_! Do you know how hard it is to keep our existence a secret from _my_ humans?"

"Careful now!" The Northern American King, Robert Edwards, lightly smirked. "You can't be finally admitting that terror and the Middle East are synonymous now, eh?" The American King's green eyes creased with dry amused. His wavy black hair was covered with a large cowboy hat and he leaned back in his chair folding his large hands together.

"If you could _control_ your bomb-happy humans, my disastrous situation wouldn't even be occurring." King Naser redirected his glared at his shared enemy.

"Sucks to be you then, huh?" King Edwards smirked. He then directed his green eyes to Kaname and smiled with mocking understanding. "You must have a _terrible_ Korean Governor. I feel for you because I know how that is." The American King sighed. "I was just talking to my Californian Governor. Man, I hate that state – California is the home of all fruits, flakes, and nuts."

Maxwell came to the defense of his speechlessly angry ally. If there was one person in the entire room he despised more than King Kuran, it was the always joking and insulting American Vampire King! "Don't insult Aarik's plight, you stupid witless American."

King Edwards raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "Relax, you uptight stick-up-ass Brit!"

Maxwell groaned lowly. "I'm not British, you clueless fool!"

The American King just shrugged his broad shoulders. "Like that even matters. All Europeans look the _same_ to me." He knowingly smirked. Robert knew Maxwell wanted to thrash his ass into the grass due to their deep historical enmity, so he wanted to continue on annoying the man. But then he had a sudden thought. Rubbing his chin, he said, "Well, except freaking Germans. I can tell a German." He darkly reflected. "Damn well destroyed that country twice two centuries ago, and they still have the gall to rebuild their entire economy as one of the strongest! Couldn't they have just ended up like the Soviet Union or Greece?"

Maxwell's blue eyes _blazed_.

"Girls. _Girls_." The South East and Pacific Island Queen, Arihi Nguyen, tried to stop the growing verbal fight between the three male vampires. She was a small and petite woman and was currently wearing a simple black dress suit. With half her face covered by her long black hair, her pink lips formed a smirk. "You're _all_ pretty. Now calm down and let's get this meeting over with." _Men_. Honestly, what sort of pissing contest was she witnessing? She had so much work to do and this meeting was a complete waste of her valuable and limited time.

"I still don't get why Naser has the steel balls to criticize _my_ humans when _his_ humans repeatedly attack Mr. Seven-Eleven's homeland all the time." King Edwards jerked his thumb at the surprised-to-be-included-in-the-conversation Indian Vampire King, Baldev Kumar. "You would think such close states would be better friends."

King Kumar looked up to the ceiling. His honey-brown eyes dripped with annoyance. How exactly did _he_ get dragged into this verbal contest?

The South American King, Enrico Martinez, loudly sighed. "So, we all now know that the situation in the Far Eastern Realm is under control? Can we go now?" As the only voice of reason, King Martinez wanted to stop this before it got out of hand. Despite the fact that King Edwards was the leader of their New World Vampire Fraction (IWVF), he really did not have the time or energy tonight. He had so much work to do in _his_ own realm that he could hardly care less about what was going on in the _other_ vampire realms.

"Not quite, Mr. Taco Bell." The American King openly smirked. He loved pissing this group of people off. Every day he had to be a smooth well-cultured and understanding leader to his people, so it was rare for him to get the chance to deliberately annoy his equals and shake things up a bit. "I have it on good authority that my humans don't quite really believe that what happened in Korea was just one of Naser's People's Friendly Little Visits."

"You know, Robert, if you weren't so crude and insulting, we could take your concerns more seriously." The Australian and New Zealand King dryly remarked. His hangover headache had gotten worst with all the shouting and insults.

The American King's green eyes sparkled. "I'll keep your suggestion in mind, Crocodile Hunter."

King Smith growled. "I'm a New Zealander, you damn Yank!"

King Edwards mockingly crowed. The redhead just _had_ to walk into that one didn't he? "So what if you are from New Zealand? Isn't that one of Australia's minor bitch states _anyway_?"

King Smith felt like crying. "By darkness, if all Americans are like you, then I hate that entire wretched place!"

But Edwards lightly winked. "Ah, that's the joy of being an American! You can enrage the entire world and still not give one damn!"

"Don't think all Americans are like North Americans. Be more specific! There are such things as South Americans. We're a _different_ and _normal_ sort." King Martinez listlessly defended.

"Yeah!" King Edwards pouted.

King Kamane Kuran felt like sighing heavily. _This_ was why he always _hated_ these meetings. They never got anything accomplished, and they always ended up at each other's throat. While all these ten vampire rulers presented a united and terrifying front against their subjects and other lower class beings, behind closed doors these ten men and women attacked like squabbling children.

Maxwell glared at the annoying American and looked to the ground. He wished it would open up and devour the New World Vampire Alliance Leader. "While it burns me to admit that the American Idiot has a point, I also want to make it clear that the Vatican has informed me of their _utmost_ displeasure at what happened in Korea. They are completely furious and demand an answer."

He looked at Kaname with a small smirk.

Kaname's instincts burned. He wasn't quite sure, but he realized that Maxwell was trying to force him into something. What that was, he wasn't quite sure, but he refused to be trapped in a Maxwell plot. "Tell your Vatican that it has no right to demand an answer from me. They already made a no-interference treaty with my Hunter's Association. If they want an answer, they should talk to their respective human institution."

"You have the Hunter's Association, I have Catholics – one really has to wonder if there is a _difference_ - but it's safe to say that the defensive vampire human agencies around the globe aren't too pleased with what occurred in Korea." Maxwell's blue eyes burned at him hungrily. "If we end up in a grand Vampire-Human War, you will have my utmost _thanks_, Kaname."

Unneeded, the American King piped in. "Hey! _I_ have to deal with _Protestants_!"

As one, the three Queens all looked at each other. There was a collective unspoken message between them. Queen Bimnono looked ready to slay the male fools before her, so Queens Brown and Nyuyen decided that this meeting was officially over.

"Before we get into a Who-Has-The-Worst-Humans Contest, this 1037th Emergency Council Meeting is concluded." Queen Nyuyen called out.

Queen Bimnono was the first to slap her irritated hands on her chair to get up to leave. Before she left the room, however, she glared at the six exasperating male Kings. The men flinched in unison and felt like they were being knocked down seven pegs. Then she promptly left the room - satisfied that her displeasure was felt.

The American King was the next to get up. "Well, this meeting was about as useful as sperm in a whorehouse." He tipped his hat to his fellow New World Vampire Alliance members, Queen Brown and King Martinez. "I will see you two later!" But then the raven haired king turned to Kamane and gave him a mocking wave of his hand. "I didn't get to insult you in this meeting, so I'll make it up in the next one, my dear friend." Then the man gave him a mystifying wink. "I might see you sooner than expected though."

King Kamane Kuran emotionlessly stared after him. While he was pleased that King Edwards was no friend to his greatest enemy, he still didn't care much for the riotous man's ways.

The Ancient World Vampire Union (AWVU), Kings Maxwell, Naser, and Kumar, glared in amalgamated enmity at the retreating back of the sauntering American King. But soon, they all left the room as well.

"Explain to me how _that_ man became the ruler of such a powerful realm?" Kaname asked rhetorically.

The Caribbean Queen smirked as she looked at her perfectly done nails. Ah, at least _she_ was able to achieve something during this entire affair_._ And while she knew the Far Eastern Vampire King did not want an answer, she supplied one anyway. "The American Realm is one of the more powerful realms for a reason, Kaname." Her white teeth twinkled. "When the world thinks you're a fool, they tend to forget your hidden knife. In my country we have a saying: play the fool to catch the wise. He plays the tactic well."

And with that mysteriously given advice, Queen Brown left the room. Kaname looked at his fellow members of _his_ ruler's faction, the Eastern Pacific Vampire Coalition (EPVC), but Queen Nguyen and King Smith simply shrugged their shoulders.

Without saying another word, Kaname pinched his nose and left the council room and building as well. As he walked back towards his refueling private jet, Kaname picked up his cell phone. His work was not yet done. He also needed to summon his inner circle, _Yuki included_, and get this entire affair resolved neatly and his life back on track.

Despite the fact that he had to deal with a brand new and superfluous problem, it wouldn't stop Kaname's ultimate goal. Kaname had decided long ago that he would rule this entire world and thus have it all, so there was not one thing anyone, rebel or ruler, could do to stop him.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N**: I had much fun making up and creating the other vampire rulers! XD I wonder which vampire ruler the majority of my readers are under? Pity those of us who are under King Edwards! XD But thanks for reading my fic so far and please leave a nice review! ;) The more I get, the faster I write it seems. ;D


	29. Chapter 28 Inner Circle

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Ruka Souen-Kain looked at one of her best friends, Rima Touya, and promptly inhaled her cup of ice-blood coffee the wrong way. After about a minute of disgusting wheezes and chocking disbelief, the Queen among Ice Princesses, resumed her disbelieving stare at her friend.

"Have you lost your damn mind, Rima?" Ruka hissed. "Where is Yuki? I need to speak with her right now!"

"I've already filed the papers and informed Takuma." Rima pressed her lips tightly. "It's far too late for you to do anything about it." Rima looked square into Ruka's light brown eyes. "Yuki is _extremely_ serious about this."

"But why?" Ruka argued. "They were just _fine_ one year ago and just because of _one_ attack, she just ups and decides to _leave_ him?"

Rima shook her head. "I don't think it's last year's assassination attack that is pushing _this_. We've already established that the attack was really meant for Kaname, but Yuki had tried to go in his place at that meeting." Rima shook her head. "It's something deeper than that, Ruka. When you look at Yuki's eyes, you just know its deeper than that."

"But she doesn't tell anybody anything! She just shuts herself off." Ruka said. "She was never like that before. She was always open about everything at the academy."

Rima stared at her. "She's changed, Ruka. She's changed so completely after that day." Rima rubbed her hands to warm herself. "You know, her change started on her first wedding day, and I think…the divorce is _linked_ to that. Seiren just called me and told me she has been at his gravesite for three days straight now without eating."

"But he's been gone for over one hundred years!" Ruka snapped. "You can't possibly expect me to believe that a dead man is the reason for this! She wouldn't have married Kaname in the first place if she was still hung up over the hunter! They have _children_, for darkness's sakes!"

"I just can't help but think its linked somehow." Rima's lawyer instincts were on fire. She always secretly suspected that Kaname had _something_ to do with Zero's murder. It was always a hidden thought in the back of her head when she was younger. After all, Rima had been in the same position, and she knew she wouldn't have been so supportive of her _rival_ in love. The fact that Kaname was Yuki's sibling and was really the only one who could pay for the wedding was probably what kept most people from suspecting him. However, she had first been friends with Senri, and Senri would always look at his pureblooded cousin with distant but also distrustful eyes. After all, Kaname was the last person Zero saw and it's a common fact in the legal world that the last person to see the victim alive tends to have the higher likelihood of being the reason why that victim wasn't anymore.

She always kept these thoughts to herself though. Yuki was definitely not the one for her to confide her secret thoughts on this matter to. Seiren probably wouldn't be able to believe it either because she was still loyal to Kaname, even though she preferred Yuki more now. Ruka would just laugh her thoughts off.

It was times like these, that Rima really missed Sayori. She was always the most level-headed one in this odd group of women. Sayori would have been the perfect confidante with these thoughts.

Ruka shook her head. Her long blond hair whipped around her, and she tightly grasped her coffee cup. "Impossible." See, Ruka just wouldn't accept it. Despite her torrid history with Kaname, Ruka still believed Kaname was a dignified, if maddeningly complex, person. "Enough of this! We've got to talk to her. I'm sure if she and Kaname just sat down and talked, then everything will be okay." Ruka promptly decided. "We need to talk her out of this before Kaname finds out she's even _thinking_ about something like that!"

Rima looked at her friend listlessly. She was just in shock because of the information, so Rima just decided to settled in, because she was going to have a long argument with this thick-headed blond woman.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Inner Circle **

* * *

**Present**

Holding his bags, Haruka Kuran looked at his father's hidden Lover-Doll-Pet person.

The hover limo that would take Juri and himself to their awaiting private jet back to their mother's would be arriving in a few minutes.

As Haruka continued to stare at the man, he was still a bit confused in this entire affair.

Well, not just a bit confused, he was very, very confused. And very, very guilt. And very, very clueless in the entire matter.

Yesterday, his sister and he had spent the entire day with Silver, and Haruka had been _jovial_ the entire time. He was so happy that he even forgot about his father's future punishment! Heck, since he was leaving right now, father wouldn't be able to punish him any time soon due to his sudden unknown crisis a few nights ago!

So Haruka had been really and honestly happy when he spent time with the hidden man...who was living secretly...inside his father's stark and empty private palace...for the past three to four months.

There was so much wrong and weird in that statement.

After Juri came, all three of them had spent the night together. Juri beamed and told ridiculous stories. Haruka argued with Juri's usual weird thought patterns and reasoning. Silver listened to them both and would suggest common ground facts that the always-squabbling siblings could agree on.

Silver had …had _played_ with them. Freely. Like they _weren't_ a waste of his time or something. Juri wanted to build a snowman, but he wanted to play a game. Silver found a way to do both. _Both_. He just didn't take Juri's side like everyone else did. He listened to both of them and tried to make both of them equally happy.

That was rarer than a blue moon to Haruka. _Both_. Juri and him had his equal attention. Both. _Equal_.

Silver was a such a cool guy.

Silver then offered to make them lunch. (He could cook as well?) And thus the three had gone to father's rarely seen kitchen, and Juri and Haruka had watched Silver make them a feast for the eyes and the belly in no time flat.

They played a board game. They watched one of Juri's corny soap operas. Silver played them a few songs on his violin. They had nice and pleasing conversations.

And time went by _so_ fast!

But now, Juri and he would have to leave their new older friend, and go back to their mother because of her request to be back by five days' time.

Haruka was a _tiny_ bit sad about that.

And he was also very, _very_ confused.

When he had woken up from his rest after last night of pure fun, Haruka suddenly realized that during all the time he was having fun with Silver - he had forgotten a very important thing.

An extremely important thing.

An extremely important really very big thing.

Father was _sleeping_ with this man.

_Sleeping._ Not like I'm-tired-wholesome-innocent-type sleeping. But the type of sleeping that isn't for non-married people to do! Especially if one of the people doing the sleeping with was married to another person - and that other person was his _mother_!

Silver Night had said that he was no threat to his mother's and father's relationship, but Haruka didn't see how that was even possible. Anybody with even the slightest bit of common sense, and Haruka believed he had more than the slightest bit of it the majority of the time, could see that Silver's statement was complete foolishness.

But he was such a cool guy.

A cool guy that referred to himself as a Doll and a Pet.

_**Rawh!**_ Haruka was so confused.

"I don't wanna leave!" Juri cried, as her personal servant, the put-upon Mika, dragged the girl's suitcases and put them in the now-coming black hover limo.

Juri wailed. "I don't want to be separated from Silver Angel Knight!" She looked at Silver with large watery eyes.

Silver smiled kindly down at her. "I will always be here, my darling little princess." He bowed slightly to her. Juri's cheeks flamed red. "I will anxiously await your return, my lady. I would like to see some of your fashion designs and ideas." His purple eyes gleamed, and Juri's blush washed further across her face.

During this entire exchange, Mika was able to put Juri's seven suitcases into the black hover limo. (Why did she need seven suitcases of clothing if she was only going to be at the palace for less than five days - Haraka will never understand it.) But then Juri did something very unexpected.

"Bye-bye, Silver!" And with that, Juri jumped up and lightly kissed Silver on his right cheek. Silver's purple-gray eyes had widened, and he looked quite shocked at the action. He stood like he was changed into stone for a brief second.

Juri's face was now a tomato, and she rushed into their now-parked black hover limo.

Haruka was simply speechless. Stupid Juri! She shouldn't be so..._so bold!_

After a moment, Silver seemed to regain himself. "Prince Haruka." Silver noticed that he was looking at him. "I enjoyed your company yesterday." Silver then formed a teasing smirk on his lips. "Perhaps when we meet again, you can again show me more of your martial art skills." Silver lightly joked.

Now it was Haruka's turn to become red. He really did not know what to say about that.

"You have a talent with it." Silver said. And he held out his snow-white hand for a friendly manly handshake. "I hope to see your further improvement with it." Silver smiled at him, and Haruka realized that he _truly _was looking forward to meeting with him again.

Haruka was _moved_. Silver was so free to praise him...

Haruka nodded his head and took his hand. His brown hair slightly covering his eyes. "I'll see you around, Silver." He said as lightly as he could. Then he followed after his sister and went into the hover limo. The driver closed the door after him, but Haruka pressed the button to roll his wind down.

Silver waved at them with a small smile.

"Take care of yourself. And I'll definitely be better with my punches when I see you next!" Haruka smiled, and he pressed the button to roll up his limo's window quickly.

* * *

Akatuski Kain looked at his reports and desperately wished his Co-Commander of the Armed Vampire Forces was here right now. Seiren was better at these kinds of things, but he knew the woman was with Queen Kuran currently, so Kain would have to struggle on with these frustration reports without her until she came back – if she came back that is.

Akatuski Kain had the troubling dark feeling that his relatively peaceful life was about be destroyed.

Akatuski Kain wasn't really very happy with that feeling, but what could one do?

In the end, Akatuski Kain would be fine with whatever happened, just so long as his family unit was safe.

Akatuski was a man of few words – of _extremely_ few words. He did not like to talk when actions were better at describing his real feelings. That had gotten him into much trouble with his wife who needed words more than actions for her to understand things. They were complete opposites, but that was probably why they went together so well. Sort of like how Takuma and Sayori went together when she was alive. Takuma was so…sunny…in his personality that he needed someone balanced to be able to handle all his wild thoughts and mood swings. Sayori was such a person. Of all the humans, no _people_, Akatsuki has met in his life, Sayori had been the steadiest and the one who was the most balanced.

He was steady and balanced. So, he preferred the company of steady and balanced people. Steady and balance was good. That was why he liked Seiren as well. She was always steady and balanced. Akatuski, Seiren, and the late Sayori were card-carrying members of the steady and balanced people club.

But admission to such a club was hard to get into in his circle of the world, though.

But speaking of non-members of the balanced and steady people club, his cousin, Hanabusa Aido, rushed into his office. His dress shirt was a mess and thick with the smell of smoke and alcohol. There were two lipstick stains on his neck, and the lipsticks' stains were of two completely different shades: red and pink.

Akatsuki looked up to his ceiling. _Please don't tell me he discovered another lost child of his again?_ He thought to himself. That would make this his 97th child, wouldn't it?

How exactly did Hanabusa have the time and stamina for so many women? Despite himself, Akatuski's manly self was slightly impressed. He only had one woman, his Ruka, and she drained him of everything – his energy, logic, and money included.

But without so much as a simple greeting, Hanabusa opened his mouth, "Did Yuki met with a devil that somehow convinced her to start the end of the world this year?" Akatsuki blankly stared at him.

Aido narrowed his blue eyes. "Takuma just told me that Yuki is demanding a divorce! And she's very serious about it. The papers are already filed!" Hanabusa hissed.

Wow.

And just like that Akatsuki Kain's rosy, steady, and balanced life was suddenly destroyed.

He sighed. There will be no more new members of the steady and balanced people club for quite some time.

* * *

**One Night Later...**

King Kaname Kuran had just gotten home, and he was so very, very tired.

He didn't sleep a wink the past several nights and days. He was extremely exhausted. So exhausted that he grudgingly decided to postpone his initial return visit to his Silver's lovely room. He was sure the man would understand. Butler Rio had just informed him that his children had left the day before, which was all well and good. He didn't think he as in the right mood right now to deal with them.

But then Butler Rio had also informed him that someone who was entirely unexpected needed to see him about something urgent, and he would be due here in about ten minutes.

That unexpected person was Takuma Ichijo, the King's Right Arm.

After the meeting with his fellow vampire rulers, Kaname had set flight again to Korea. Meeting with his Royal Governor of that area and its human representative was a bit of an easy treat after the foolishness that was the recent Vampire Ruler's Council. Everyone had gotten straight to the point, and Kaname had been able to leave Korea in less than two hours.

The only person who wasn't satisfied with the results was the Royal Governor himself. But that was probably due to the inherent obnoxiousness in the Korean human representative. As the middle-aged man had looked at his fellow Royal Governor, his entire expression could be read as: _We humans kicked out the Japanese invaders over a century ago, but you vampires are still under their rule. Who exactly do you think is really the better species?_

Byung Gi had not liked the human's look, but with King Kuran there, what could he have done? He was the sole reason to blame for this entire situation! If the man had just been a bit more aware in his court, then this wouldn't have happened.

Yet, Takuma was due to arrive in a few minutes. _So, he must of heard about the Korean pureblood attack, didn't he?_ Kaname thought tiredly to himself. He decided that he could stay up some more then. However, he really would have to make this meeting with Takuma short. While he had not seen his friend in person for nearly three years, the man had been able to manage his responsibilities over long-distances, so Kaname was confident that Takuma was coming over because he had heard of the newest rebellion and had accurately predicted Kaname's final solution.

Well, this was good. Let's do the first step in his plan before going to bed.

* * *

As Takuma walked in his friend's and king's private palace office, he checked things off his mental checklist.

Do I have a will? Yes.

Is it updated? No.

Will my five children be alright once I'm gone? Maybe.

Did he use the bathroom before coming here? Yes. (He would maintain his dignity even in death!)

Kaname was looking at some paperwork, and his computer screen was on. Although he didn't really look tired, Takuma could still feel his exhaustion. Perhaps it would be good for him to put this off?

No. No. He couldn't. He just got wind that the tabloids had just discovered this. And he couldn't stop it. It was going to be the first thing people learned about tomorrow and if Kaname learned of his divorce in _that_ way...

"Ah! Takuma." Kaname gave him a light smile. "You heard about the Korean situation? I need you to create a special team of investigators to figure out who the purebloods are behind this recent rebellious attack."

Takuma just stared at him. That was _also_ going on?

Takuma felt like crying, but he geared himself.

"It's good to see you, Kaname-sama. Really it is." Takuma shakily smiled. "But I'm not here for that right now. We have another terrible situation."

Kaname's dark-brown eyes flashed. "Another problem? What could possibly be more terrible that this newest rebellion?" Kaname pinched his nose and then put his papers down. "What is it then, Takuma? Clearly it is very important if you came to tell me yourself."

If nothing else, King Kaname's instincts were always on point.

Takuma sighed to himself. He would just have to say it then. No beating around the bush. So, taking a great deep breath, Takuma said, "Kaname-sama, your wife has demanded a divorce." The blond man quickly looked away from his friend and king.

There was one moment of intense silence.

Kaname stared at Takuma expressionlessly.

And then poor Takuma felt the sudden sensations of being on Ground Zero.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N: **Ha ha! Poor Takuma (and my poor readers) - things are getting started now. XD Thanks for reading and please leave me a review!**  
**


	30. Chapter 29 Divorce, Part I

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**115 Years Ago**

A five-year-old Zero rushed into the Kiryu's home kitchen. His mother, Masa Kiryu, was washing some dishes, but she stopped her task and looked down at her widen-eyed son. Masa smiled. He was always so excited to tell her about what he learned in school that day, and he would always hold up his assignments to show her how well he was doing. The refrigerator was filled with Zero's and his brother's five-star and smiley face schoolwork.

Kyo Kiryu followed behind his son and went to the coffee maker to get an afternoon cup of coffee before he had to head out to the Association for his nightly report and shift.

"Mommy! Mommy!" A young Zero bounced. "I have to ask you an important question! Can I ask you, please?"

Masa's brown eyes shined. She looked at him and said, "Of course you can, my little one. What is it? "

Zero looked at to his mother and in a suddenly very serious voice said, "Mommy, will you marry me?"

Masa was flabbergasted. "What did you say, Zero?"

Zero pouted at her. He wanted her to immediately say yes, but he decided to explain."In school today, they said that you marry the person you want to stay with forever. And I want to stay with mommy forever." Then he looked up at her seriously. "So, can you please marry me, mommy?"

Oddly touched, she broke out into a warmer smile, but then she said, "Zero, you can only marry someone you love."

He looked at her and frowned. Then he nodded his little silver-haired head. "I know! That's why I want to marry you mommy! I love you the best!"

Masa was speechless. She bent to her knees and crushed her lovable son into the tightest hug she could manage.

But one person in the room was slightly disgruntled. Kyo looked at his son. "Hey! That's not fair! What about me?" His father called out. He was a bit put out that his wife got all the lovable attention from their son. What was he? Just a money tree?

After his mother released him, Zero turned around to face his father, and he rolled his clear amethyst eyes. "_Fine_, daddy. I'll also marry you too."

Kyo Kiryu stared - his five-year-son was something of a player.

And then both Kiryu Parents loudly laughed.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Divorce, Part I**

* * *

**Present**

Takuma was on Ground Zero.

Kaname-sama had looked at him for the briefest of seconds with a completely expressionless gaze. He then closed his eyes for less than a second.

When he opened them, his normal dark-brown eyes had become a horrendous malevolent crimson hue.

An impulse of terrifying dark power ripped through the air and slammed into Takuma's chest, the private office, the palace complex as a whole, and the surrounding area within the radius of ten miles. Anything that was glass or glass-like was immediately shattered into a million pieces. The cold winter ground shuddered as if it feared for itself, and small and large pools of water had started to flee from their places. A fatal telekinetic wave of sinister killing intent had accompanied the dark implosion of Kaname's sudden uncontrollable murderous power, and every living soul within a twenty-mile radius of his current location was oppressed by feelings of overwhelming frightened terror and traumatizing dread.

Takuma's soul informed his mind with the words, "_This is it. This is the day I'm going to die._"

But then King Kuran's wild power went completely silent. Like a simple snap of his fingers, the dark power, the uncollected rage, the unmitigated horror of his wrath was suddenly gone. Even his eyes had gone back to their normal dark-brown color, but when the King focused back on Takuma, his expression was lifelessly.

That expressionless gaze was a thousand times more frightening to Takuma than that previous brief display of his dark wrath.

"Could you please _repeat_ what you just said, Takuma?" King Kuran tonelessly asked.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

"This is _impossible_! You can't be serious, mother!" Haruka yelled.

Juri was in tears. "Say it isn't true, mama! _Say it isn't true!_" Her face was dripping with salty water.

Yuki looked at her children firmly - in no way was she joking or playing games. The time for her self-pity, sadness, and regret had come to an end. Staying at Zero's gravesite for a few days had strengthen and calmed her. She was now ready to go through with this.

However, Rima had called her earlier and informed her that the tabloids had found out. How those vultures knew before the intended time was something that Yuki just didn't understand, but she decided that it was the sign from Zero that she needed.

There would be no turning back now.

When she had arrived to her mansion, she had seen her children playing a board game, and she immediately decided that now was the best time to tell them. Better they heard it from her lips today, then from the tabloid papers tomorrow.

So, she had just told them about her desire for a divorce.

The reactions she had expected from her children were realized. Juri had immediately bursted into tears, and Haruka had suddenly gone into a disbelieving rage.

"I am getting a divorce, kids." She looked at them steadily, firmly, but softly. "I am not doing it because I don't love you. I'm doing it _because_ I do."

"I don't understand, mama! That doesn't make sense." Surprisingly, Juri hissed at her. "Father's done _nothing_ wrong! It's _you_ who won't even speak to him! _You_ never answer any of his messages! You've been ignoring _him_ for a year!"

Yuki stared at her daughter. Juri's ill-formed sentence repeated itself in her head. Father's done nothing wrong. _Nothing wrong?_ Kaname's done nothing wrong.

**Nothing wrong.**

It was a crime, but her silent rage had almost released itself and directed its violent fangs at her naive Juri. In the briefest of seconds, Juri was not her beloved daughter, but a supporter of Kaname's evil. Yuki had almost – _no!_ She couldn't. But then again, _she could_.

She had to protect her children, even if that meant it was from _herself_.

"Juri, _please_ leave my presence, right now." Yuki said quietly and quickly. Yuki suddenly didn't trust herself. Those words of Juri had hurt her – _hurt her deeply_ - but they also stirred up her rage. It wouldn't be right for her to direct her fury at Kaname at her clueless daughter. Juri loved Kaname very much. _Of course_, she would defend him.

But Juri's crying dark-brown eyes suddenly became very furious. "I hate you, mama! I _hate_ you!" And then she rushed out from Yuki's room without another word.

Yuki speechlessly looked after her. Her heart squeezed and burned. _I hate you, mama._ This...this feeling inside her...hurts. It hurts. It _hurts_. Her first living child said she hated her. It hurts. It really, _really_ hurts.

_I hate you, mama!_

Yuki suddenly felt very drained.

Absentmindedly, Yuki went to her private purple and silver tea cup and kettle set on her side wooden table. Her slightly shaking hands did the motions from muscle memory, but Yuki's heart and mind were on autopilot.

Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Yuki looked at the hot tea in her cup and walked to the nearest chair to sit down.

_I hate you, mama! I hate you!_

But Haruka had not left. After his first outburst, he had stayed silent during that entire mother-daughter exchange.

When Juri had said her words to their mother, Haruka saw the sudden flash of hurt, pain, and anger in his mother's eyes and it wounded Haruka as well. So _deeply_ was he wounded that he had a sudden realization.

_**Mother knew.** _Mother knew about Silver and father.

He suddenly remembered Silver's words. _I would never seek to rival the importance of your mother to your father._

What Bullcrap.

Haruka knew more than Juri, so he was not going to allow mother to hide the real reason from him. He watched as mother made herself a cup of tea, and once she sat down, he followed after her.

Mother looked at him with listless, empty eyes.

Haruka felt hurt. He really felt his mother's hurt. Breathlessly, he said, "I know why you are doing this, mom." He gently said.

Yuki looked at him with utter surprise. Sheer disbelief overtook her then. Haruka knew? He knew? He knows about Zero and her and their lost baby and -

Her son looked at her with conceived understanding. "I know that father is sleeping with another man."

Yuki blinked. She _couldn't_ quite believe that she heard her son right.

Haruka looked down as he continued. He didn't want to see mother's further hurt expression. "He calls himself a Doll, but it's still wrong, right? Isn't that why you're so hurt and want a divorce?"

The words of Haruka were rattling against her suddenly empty brain.

Kaname. _Sleeping._ **With another man.**

Who was a - _**Doll?**_

Yuki heard of Dolls. She had despised the entire practice, but she had not done much to stop it. She would give small donations to the DLA from time to time with the hopes to end the practice in the future, but...really..._Kaname_ had a _Doll_.

Something about that didn't seem _right_ to her. Kaname wasn't the type in engage in such hedonistic pleasure and _surely_...

Yuki was baffled into silence.

Haruka suddenly felt bad. Silver was a nice guy, but his mother came first for him. Still, Haruka didn't want to really bad-mouth the guy too much. So..so if there was one person to blame it was father! Yes. Mother should blame father and not Silver. _Father_.

"I've met him, mom. He's really nice, but somewhat odd. He refers to himself as a pet and stuff. So, yeah...odd." Haruka was really clueless as to how to continue or explain himself. He didn't know much about Dolls, and Silver was the first he ever met so...he continued on with his words. "He defended me from father and he...he has cool long silver hair...and is good at –"

_Silver hair._

Yuki stared at her son. _Silver hair._

_**No**_. It couldn't be...Kaname _couldn_'t have...He couldn't possibly be so..so _offensive_ and _unfeeling_...

But she knew him. Yuki _knew_ Kaname. Of course, he was _capable_...

"What color is the eyes of this Doll your father now has?" She asked quietly. Kaname couldn't be so _intentional_ cruel as to _get_...and for the Doll to so _resemble_...

Haruka blinked. That was an odd question and response. Why care about the eye color of one's husband's mistress? Is that a woman thing? It was a strange question but mother was looking at him so... _strongly_...that he had to be honest. Haruka rubbed his arms. Hmm, how to describe Silver's eyes? Haruka was having a hard time remembering, but Silver's eyes _were_ unusual. Weren't they a dark...pink? No. His eyes were darker and more gray then anything most of the time. Haruka knew he wasn't the best at describing things, especially people, well. But Silver's eyes were _unique_ so...

"Silver's eyes are a grayish dark pink-purple...I think." Haruka answered, "That's an odd –" He stopped and stared at his mother.

Yuki crushed her tea cup. The hot tea liquid burned her hand but she didn't notice the pain at all.

She wanted to remain calm, but she was so livid. Like a black snake had devoured her heart and poisoned her blood, Yuki was tremendously incensed. Boiling rage heated her body and her hands started to shake. The broken pieces of the tea cup and saucer rattled loudly in her ears.

Kaname was such a bastard. An _evil_, cruel, and _mocking_ son of a bitch.

How _dare_ he? _**How dare he mock her like this?** _How dare he?

It was so clear to her. Her festering emotional wounds bleed afresh. He wasn't sorry. He wasn't at all _sorry_ about what _he has done._

How dare he find someone that looked _similar_ to Zero and _sleep_ with him? Was this some sort of symbolic antagonism to hurt her further? Was it revenge for what she had said when they last saw each other?

The eye color was off but Yuki saw Kaname's true cruel intentions. Her Zero had the clearest and purest amethyst eyes the world had ever seen. But why, Kaname? What was the point for him to continuously reopen her deep emotional scars? Kaname was making silent fun of her. _Why?_ Was he trying to make her insane? Did he just like hurting her to scorn like this?

She would not stand for this.

Yuki refused to be mocked.

She will make him **_bleed for this insult_**.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

A/N: Ah, look what happens when you're not clear with what you say. XD Sorry, my lovely readers, but you didn't think Yuki would discover Zero that easily in this tale, eh? Plus that would be a bit of a huge logical jump for someone to make. ;D But now she knows of Silver's existence...oh, the possible confusion that could bring! :D Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a wonderful review!


	31. Chapter 30 Divorce, Part II

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Butler Rio dropped his silver tray.

The entire ground shuddered, and all the windows in the hallway were shattered into tiny pieces. A dark wave of murderous energy swallowed his heart, and Rio almost fainted at the horror.

It was almost like a year had never gone by. This murderous energy was almost exactly like that unleashed furious powers between the King and Queen and their massive battle nearly one year ago. Only this power felt deep and antique. It felt so primordial, so colossal, so furious, and so -

_**Hurt**_.

Then like a sudden snap of the fingers, the powerful fury was gone. However, the left-over power vibrations of that swift dark power outburst could still be felt. Butler Rio briefly wondered how much money and how much time it would take for all the windows, glasses, and mirrors to be repaired again.

Then after a few moments, while Rio tried to regain a steady heartbeat and settle his pounding pulse, the King's Right Arm, Lord Takuma Ichijo, appeared in the King's private hallway and wobbled towards him out of his King's personal office.

In a daze, Lord Takuma looked at him. "I just told him about his divorce."

Butler Rio's heart froze. He couldn't utter a single word.

But Lord Takuma continued on in an absentminded matter, "He took it...a little better...than I thought." Lord Takuma looked at his shaking hands. "I'm still alive, after all." He started to walk away towards the palace's exit. "But I don't think it would be a good idea for him to see anybody right now." And Lord Takuma wobbled away towards the King's Palace exit.

Bulter Rio looked to the ceiling and then shook his head in sadness. Sighing heavily, Butler Rio knelt to pick of his dropped silver tray and all its ruined snacks and refreshments. He thought the two old friends would spend quite some time together, but that obviously wasn't going to occur.

But of all the things to happen! A Divorce?

Despite the fact that Butler Rio knew that the unspoken cause of the separation between the couple was profound, he didn't think it would be that bad! After all, many vampire couples have long periods of separation, but then they always got back together, after some time has passed. Also, divorces rarely happen in the noble sphere of society, and Rio has never heard of a pureblood vampire divorce. Never! Not even during his longer-than-average life!

So, what in the world is going to happen when there is a pureblood vampire divorce going to occur?

No.

It was even worse than that.

What in the world is going to happen when there is a _royal_ pureblood vampire divorce going to occur?

_I really need to retire. I'm getting too old for this. _The elderly Rio thought to himself.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty: Divorce, Part II**

* * *

**Present**

_**Yuki.**_

Was.

**Demanding**.

A.

_**Divorce.**_

From.

_**Him**_.

After his initial emotional explosion over the fact that the woman would have the audacity and daring to think, much less, desire to leave him filled Kaname with a type of rage that he hadn't felt since murdering his uncle-descendent.

Who did that woman think she was to dare to leave him? Leave him, Kaname Kuran? _Leave_? Did she not know that _she was his_? She was.

_She was always going to be his. _

So, after his initial hot fury, a cool rage overtook its place. Heated anger and cold anger have two distinct and delicious favors. Hot anger allows you to purge your negative emotions and feelings as quickly and as actively as one could wish. Hot fury could give anyone a powerful burst of destructive energy and power, but such a power could never be maintained over the long run. Hot anger soon runs out and drains the individual who feels it.

But cold fury is far different.

Cold anger could be nursed and nurtured. And it could also be fostered and cherished. Cold anger allows one to fester, gnaw, and savor the emotional pain to their utter satisfaction. Cold rage is the energy that drives a person towards their perfect solution for their revenge.

And Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire King, Kaname Kuran, was a master at using his ice-cold fury for his motivational purposes.

So, Yuki wanted to divorce him? _To leave him?_

Ridiculous.

He refused to allow that to happen.

_He would never let her go._

But he needed to see someone – to talk to someone. His sudden hot rage had become cold, but there was still an entrenched burning sensation in his chest. He didn't know what that feeling was, but he needed someone. Someone he could trust to only care for him and his needs to be by his side right now.

* * *

For a rare moment in his life, Silver Night was not plotting his next tactic or his next manipulation. He was not planning a new seduction technique or reviewing the results of his last plan of action.

Silver Night was honestly reflecting and reevaluating his entire life's objective.

As Silver sat in his beautiful bedroom on one of his white chaise lounges, he came to a very unsettling conclusion about his master's children. The two children had left yesterday, and for some reason, Silver had discovered that he was a bit…_sad_ that they had left.

And that was a very unsettlingly feeling to him.

He actually liked those children. He really honestly _liked_ those children. They were entertaining to watch, and Silver had felt a vague pleasure at seeing them argue and smile at each other. They had engaged and talked with Silver as if he was a person.

So, this feeling is very unsettling to him.

Silver was used to being seen as an object. He was used to being seen as a finally-attained fantasy, as a fulfilled dream, or as an ideal illusion. In fact, he cultivated that sort of persona to a perfection that even he sometimes forgot was a created forgery. He was not what he made his many masters think he was. He was not what his past masters believed he was. Every new master he ever had, he wore a completely different mask and a completely different desire. He was always changing his 'personality' in order to be the best fit to his various masters' preferred needs and wishes.

He could be the seductive siren or the innocent nymph. He could be the mysterious intellectual or the passionate artist. He could be the healing comforter or the cruel coquet. All his previous personas were created in mind of the particular fantasy his various masters deeply long for and desired. He had adopted countless personas in his various seductions and it was so easy for him to pretend to be whatever they wanted because he himself did not know what he original was.

Who was he?

What had he been like when he was a real and completed person?

"_You are my perfect corruption. My filthy work of art." The man who aided in his construction softly whispered in his ear with a blistering dark lust. "Forever will you be my greatest contaminated creation, my wonderfully defiled Silver Night."_

Silver's breathe was suddenly stolen from his lungs.

It was as if a snake had slithered into his body and wrapped itself around his aching and empty heart. His heart clenched with a remembered fear of his dark past, the time after his creation, the beginning of it all, and he felt like he was slowly chocking on his own lung. His heart seemed to burn itself into his chest and a dreadful panicked pain rip throughout his body. He started to violently shake. Why did he suddenly remember one of his creators' evilly spoken words just then?

Silver left out a shaky gasp and tried to control himself. That man was dead. The other had disappeared. He was safe. Silver was as safe as he could ever hope to be now. Do not try to remember again.

But the words were so true.

_I am a contaminated creation. _

_I am a perfect corruption. _

_I am a filthy work of art. _

**No!**

Silver desperately refused to believe that. He could never have always been the twisted, cunning, and heartless thing that he currently was. It was a belief he had always secretly cherished. It was the belief and hope that had helped him get through the long painful years and decades.

Silver believed that he had once been a noble, real, and completed person and that his true self was a noble, pure, and whole person.

He had to be. _He had to._

Therefore, if Silver were to free that person from his holdings, then everything would be alright. It was the only belief that kept him surviving - and _hoping_ and _fighting_ – because he knew that if he survived, he would one day find the miracle key that would unlock the mental prison and the bloody thorny chains that bounded and subjected his true self.

But his true self seemed to be more aware and alive lately. Ever since he was brought to this cold and lonely private palace, Silver had heard his small voice on more than one occasion. However, what his true self's recent words were to him was what was currently holding his unsettling thoughts. When he looked at Juri, his true self said to protect her. When he looked at Haruka, his true self said he seemed like him.

How?

_That seems like me_ – Haruka triggered that sentence. Haruka was like his true self? How?

What about Haruka seemed like his true self?

As Silver quietly observed him yesterday, he noticed that the boy had many hidden noble qualities. Despite the fact that he pretended to be very annoyed with his sister and would complaint about her habits, there was a hidden protective tenderness he had towards her. He saw it in the way they interacted, played, and joked. Haruka would instinctive take or do the more 'difficult' of the tasks or positions from his sister, almost as if he was silently protecting her from dangers only he could see.

The boy was also quite rude, but there was that secret pure gentleness to him that Silver was awed by. Could he have once been that noble, pure, and gentle in his past life? Could he have been that hidden but honestly kind? Him? Could he have been gentle and be the protector of something extremely valuable despite Silver knowing that now he was a corrupt shadow person?

_Protect her_ – Juri triggered that command.

Juri was a fast-talking, story-telling, brave, but naive young girl. She was very airheaded at times but then she could be very wise and insightful. She was extremely trusting and looked for the absolute best in a person. So...was there a woman or girl in _his_ past who was like that? And had she acted towards him like Juri had towards her brother? Playful, kind, accepting, and so fully trusting in his good nature?

If such a woman existed...could she be the key in freeing his true self?

_She's like the woman I failed. _

But his true self had failed a woman like Juri?

How?

And why?

If he had once been something like Haruka, who gently protected from a secret place, then how could he have -

Silver's blood solidified. He suddenly felt the gory cold rage of his furious pureblooded master.

His large massive windows, glasses containers, and silver mirrors were suddenly broken into a million little pieces. The floor trembled, and his numerous Persian rugs flew up and slid out of their places. His chandeliers were rattling and his various gold silk tapestries sounded like they were ripping apart.

Silver's heart leaped out of his chest. A chocking and gripping fear overcome him and deep within his very soul and bones he started to tremble. A dark malicious aura forced him to curl into himself, and Silver had the sudden urge to scream or weep in abject terror. He wanted to run away. He wanted to run far, _far_ away and never feel such a murderous power and viciously cruel supremacy ever again.

But he couldn't escape because this dark terrible fear was caused by his new and currently extremely enraged pureblooded master.

Silver nearly let out an insanely mocking laugh in spite of himself. _That_ was the man he was trying to manipulate and get under his hidden control? Was he some type of _fool_? Did he wish to die? How would it be possible to even touch or reach such a malevolent strength? What could possible enrage his master so suddenly that –

Out of the blue, all of Silver's past manipulations against this new master flooded his mind, and another unspeakable fear grabbed his breaking soul. By darkness, is his master mad because he had discovered Silver's lies, deceptions, and manipulations?

And is that threatening and chaotic aura coming in _his_ direction?

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N**: And the mystery, tension, and plot thickens! XD Did you know that this story was only supposed to be 10 chapters long? I know, right? ;_; Well, thanks for reading and please leave a lovely little review!


	32. Chapter 31 Divorce, Part III

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

The first thing that Kaname noticed when he opened the door was the rich and intoxicating scent of roses and sandalwood.

The second thing Kaname noticed was the man's soft, warm, and affectionate hand on the right side of his cold face. His long pale fingers and open palm cupped his face very gently.

The third thing that Kaname noticed when he opened the door was the man's distressed and apprehensive purple-gray eyes that were completely focused on him.

"Master Kaname, whatever is the matter?" Silver's deep voice was soothing and extremely concerned. "Who _hurt_ you?" His entire center of focus was directed only on Kaname at this very moment.

**Hurt. **

Ah.

That feeling that was burning inside his chest had a name.

_Hurt._

Kaname looked at this person who had accurately diagnosed his current mental state. Silver's expressive eyes glowed with care and kindness, and Kaname could not lie to those eyes that gave him the gaze _he most preferred_. "My wife." He imperceptibly whispered.

There was a brief look of surprise and then sudden empathetic understanding. Silver lightly massaged his cheek, and then he nodded his silver-haired head. "Come in. Let me make you your favorite tea." Silver's snow-white hand paused in his gently rubbing of Kaname's face and lightly touched the back of his neck and shoulder. He then moved to the side and allowed him full access to come into the room.

Subsequently, Kaname stepped into _his_ exclusive sanctuary.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One – Divorce, Part III**

* * *

**Present**

Mika was terribly anxious.

She could not find her young teen charge, Princess Juri Kuran, anywhere in the mansion.

Mika listened to the conversation between mother and children outside the Queen's luxury boudoir. It wasn't as if she was eavesdropping! The door to the Queen's boudoir was slightly opened and not locked. Furthermore, the brief conversation turned massive fallout argument had been very loud and she, despite her low rank, was also a vampire.

She had heard Juri's scream at her mother the words. "_I hate you, mama. I hate you_!" And then promptly rush out of the room.

Princess Juri had been a pitiful creature with her tear-stained face and mascara-tainted eyes. She had hurried past Mika and had not uttered a single word to her despite seeing her in the hallway. The young teen had simply blown past her, rushed to her bedroom, and slammed the door loudly shut.

Mika had followed after the young teen and had tried to open the door. However, the door was locked from the inside and Juri had bawled at her saying, "DON'T COME IT! I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYBODY RIGHT NOW!"

Mika had been very shaken at the girl's unusually loud and aggressive tone and then decided to give the distress child a bit of space. So, Mika left the girl alone in her room.

But after about four hours, she returned to Juri's bedroom and using her personal key, she allowed herself in. (Only three inhabitants in the entire mansion could do this and Mika was one of them.) She brought a plate of snacks and the girl's favorite soda brand, but when she put the plate down she finally noticed that the girl was nowhere to be found in her room.

Mika then spent the next few hours frantically searching for the young teen girl throughout the Queen's new mansion property, but then she came to the bitter realized that girl was nowhere in it.

Juri had completely disappeared.

Mika needed to inform the Queen immediately.

* * *

**The Following Day**

It was late in the afternoon when Kaname finally woke up. The lukewarm breeze of outside disturbed his daily rest.

He was on his back and wrapped in the warmth of several silk black sheets on Silver's large cherry wood poster canopy bed. The golden curtains had been loosened, and its numerous thick velvet black curtains had blocked out the majority of the late orange afternoon sunlight. The embroidered velvet crimson duvet was pulled halfway up his legs, and on the right side of his body, he felt the warmth of another person's still sleeping body.

Silver had not awaken yet. His head was resting slightly on top of Kaname's pale chest, and his long silver hair had draped itself across Kaname's torso. It was almost as if Silver's long hair was trying to embrace him in a soft silky hug. Silver's hands held him lightly in his sleep, and his breathing was very balmy and steady.

"_I will always be here beside you." _

Those seven words were the last things that Silver had said to him before they had fallen asleep on the large and comfortable silk black bed.

Kaname's memories of what happen last night drifted into his newly awaken mind.

"_You may leave now, Takuma." Kaname listlessly told his Right Arm, after the man had again confirmed that what he was saying was really true and not some sick joke._

_Takuma shakily bowed and left his presence immediately. _

_He was suddenly alone in his office, but Kaname was still angry and still...something else. _

_His previous exhaustion totally disappeared due to the sudden energy spike of his unleashed wrath. There was a firestone of feelings in his chest. An ache, a sting, a twinge, but still a blazing anger. However, Kaname couldn't really describe what he was currently feeling, and he wanted someone beside him. _

_So, he sought after the closest person who gave him the gaze he most preferred. _

_After Silver had realized the situation, he gently led Kaname to his white chaise lounge sitting area. Besides the fireplace there was a new make-shift tea making set and ingredients. When Kaname had first seen the tea materials, he had been slightly amused. Wouldn't an alcoholic beverage be better? But Silver had simply given him a mysterious smile and started the process of making Kaname's favorite type of tea. Kaname had dully noticed that there were broken pieces of windows and glass throughout the room. A consequence of his unleashed power. It had reached even here? _

_He was slightly alarmed by it. _

_He could have destroyed his own haven - his only haven - but for some reason the creature at the center of it wasn't afraid of him. Usually when he unleashed his wrath, his subjects would flee from him with unspoken fear, dread, and terror in their actions. Like Takuma or Butler Rio or the thousands of faceless enemies he always seemed to have. _

_But Silver looked at him with concerned eyes after such an event. Eyes only focused on him. _

_Nevertheless, Kaname was trapped in an unreal state of bewilderment. His rage at Yuki's betrayal had died down at the touch of the tea-making person, but now he was left with the feeling that Silver had accurately diagnosed him of having - __**hurt**__._

_Kaname was hurt. _

_Yuki was demanding a divorce from him. _

_**Hurt**__. _

_**She**__ wanted to __**leave him.**_

_**Hurt**__. _

_Silver came quickly to him and handed him a cup of his favorite tea."How did your wife hurt you, my king?" Silver softly asked as sat down beside him._

"_She wants...she wants..." Kaname's voice had suddenly become very dry. Without thinking, he swallowed the cup of still-too-hot tea. The liquid burned down his throat but Kaname didn't think that pain equaled 1/1000th of the pain he was experiencing inside his chest._

_Silver gently took the swiftly empty tea cup away from him and then placed it on his side table. For some odd reason, Kaname had found his voice after the burning liquid scorched his throat. "My wife...wants a...__**divorce**__." He spat the word out like a vicious curse. _

_Silver was quiet for a moment, and then he uttered, "What shall be done?" He looked at him closely. Kaname could see the total understanding. "Do you plan to get her back?"_

_Get her back?_

_**Hurt**__._

_Ger her back! _

_**Hurt**__._

_Suddenly, Kaname was extremely confused and incensed. "Why should I get that traitorous woman back? She wants to leave me!" _

_Silver was silent for a moment and looked at him carefully."Is she not someone you need, Master Kaname? Is she not someone who is very important to you?" Silver asked him slowly. _

_And Kaname was left speechless again. Yuki __**was**__ someone he needed – __**still needed**__. Yuki was someone who was extremely important to him. She was one of his most precious things, and Kaname did not want to think of his life without her reliable presence. _

_He had no idea why this was now occurring. Kaname didn't think it was right for her to be acting like this. He had done nothing wrong that could cause her to behave like this and actually demand something as cruel as a divorce from him._

_But Silver had somehow seen beyond his current conflicting and overwhelming emotions and had spotted his deep true wish. He was hurt. He was in pain. He was overwhelmed. _

_**But he wanted her back. **_

_But currently he could not have her, and so he turned to his other precious thing. _

_Without another word, he had grabbed Silver and took him to their bed. The following pleasure of their many climatic unions had made the pain of Yuki's betrayal dull somewhat faintly in his aching heart. Silver, as usual, was the perfect lover and allowed Kaname whatever he needed or wished. _

_Kaname had taken him fast and furiously, and Kaname had taken him slow and sluggishly. Their countless orgasms had allowed Kaname to exhaust his sudden energy and Kaname had been able to fall into a deep and dreamless day rest. _

_Silver had been utterly exhausted as well with the carnal activity, but before he had fallen asleep, he had whispered into Kaname's ear the seven most precious words he could ever hear __**"I will always be here beside you."**_

Kaname then slept very well.

But now he was awake.

With his mind was now relaxed and his body fully rested, Kaname had suddenly realized why his wife was doing this to him.

Revenge for the late Zero Kiryu.

Yuki was doing this because she wanted to hurt him for taking away Kiryu from her. Her beloved first choice.

_Ah._

And Kaname's psyche amended itself.

Kaname's perfect lips twisted into an unspeakable smile with one realization - _he still has everything under his control._

**He was the one with the most power in this situation. **

_What will Yuki do when she discovers that I have her precious Kiryu_? Kaname thought viciously to himself. _She'll have to do whatever I say if she wants him back, including stopping this circus strike of her against him and the upcoming public humiliation they were sure to face come nightfall. _

Wait. Kaname's mind suddenly sharpen.

If Yuki took back Kiryu, wouldn't Kaname _lose_ Silver?

His natural possessive nature revealed itself immediately.

**Never. **

He was _never_ going to give up Silver.

Silver looked at him with soft eyes. Silver touched him with high care. Silver listened to his concerns and problems. Silver's room was his haven. Kaname had become too accustomed and too attached. So he would never give this up.

Yuki had her chance to get him earlier, and unknowingly to her, she lost that chance herself.

**No forgiveness.**

She would dare to call him her second choice, refuse all contact with him for a year, and then have the nerve to demand a divorce from him?

She needs to be _punished_. Therefore, she will never have Zero Kiryu ever again.

This is the supposed second choice's will.

But if she wants to even see his shadow, she'll have to beg on her knees before him. And Kaname knew he was hurt enough to want to make that wretched witch suffer for the pain she inflicted on him because of her current impulsive decisions.

However, the fact remained that Silver didn't know that he was Zero Kiryu. Kaname had not mentioned it to the man at all. _And he never will._ Kaname liked Kiryu better this way – liked him better as _his_ Silver, because Silver gave him the look _he most preferred_ and honestly did not realize that Kaname was the one who had betrayed –

No need to think of that. _It was all in the past._ And what would saying sorry about his past actions accomplish _anyway_?

And if Kaname were to be _completely_ honest to himself – he wasn't sorry at all about what he had done. If he had to do it again, he most likely would have done it again - with a few minor changes of course.

After all, he won.

He had gotten Yuki. He had gotten his children. He had gotten his power (and was still growing it). Now, he finally had Kiryu under his complete control, and as the addicting Silver – _Kiryu warmed his bed_.

So why feel sorry when all your wishes have been achieved because of your actions?

But what if Yuki's appearance in his life, and before Silver, triggers the return of Kiryu?

"_I will always be here beside you." _

Something about that possibility left a bad taste in Kaname's mouth. He didn't want to face that. Even Kaname didn't want to face the real victim of his first true evil.

Yet Kaname looked over at Silver. The beautiful sleeping man continued to lightly embrace him on his side. His deep and even breathing against Kaname's bicep was a strangely comforting feeling.

_If only he could have been born a pureblood._ If only he weren't a creature that his bitterest of twin enemies: time and age could steal away. If he had not been those things, Kaname would have been free to choose Silver, crush Yuki in revenge for his hurt, and keep this creature forever by his side. A creature that was _more_ than willing to be by his side.

But the fact remained, _Silver wasn't a pureblood_. He wouldn't always stay by Kaname's side. Long after this precious man had turned to ashes and dust, Kaname would be forever unchanged.

Another bitter loss and another unpreventable horror would await him no matter what he chose to do with this man.

That was why…._this was why_…he still had to hold onto Yuki whatever the costs. Despite his intense cold fury at the woman currently, she was a pureblood. She could not be taken away from un-fightable things like time and age.

Therefore, Kaname decided to hold fast to his original objective – he would have and keep both individuals.

He would keep Silver as long as he could and only for himself. He was so _temporary_ after all. Kaname should have the right to keep him as much as he possibly could. Yuki will be highly upset about it, but Kaname decided that it would be better if he served his self-interest first. He would never let Silver go, as he would never let Yuki go.

Kaname was the one with all the power. As a result, _he_ was the only one with the right to claim whatever he wished.

And he wished for many things.

**To be Continued**

* * *

**A/N: **Ha ha! And the story marches onward. Also, this chapter ends October Update Madness for me! I've been pumping out chapter after chapter lately, but I got another big exam coming up, so...in the next two weeks or so there won't be as many updates! ;_; Sorry my lovely readers.

**A/N 2:** A real lemon will be far in coming because I like to mix lemon and plot tightly together and the next one I have planned has a really significant effect for my story. (Dodges a tomato) I'll try to make it worth the wait though. XD Also, if I wrote every single lemon that occurred in this story's background...I would probably be kicked off fanfiction and forced to drink poison for corrupting the youth. XP

**A/N 3:** Anyway, to answer another question that I'm sure many of you are all wondering (heads up to Guest), Zero/Silver's creation story will be in this fic. It's part of the plot line actually. ;)

Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a lovely little review! I do read all of them, even those not in the English language! (That is what online translation is for – fanfiction reviews. XD)


	33. Chapter 32 Vibrations

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Toga Yagari and Kaito Takamiya decided to have a late dinner together at the Grey Panther, an all-day all-night bar and diner that catered mostly to the vampire hunting community. It was located very near to the Hunter's Association main building, and it was a comfy little place. It wasn't too bright or too dark. The seats were comfortable enough to fall asleep in, and many hunters in the past had fallen asleep there after their long-hours hunting shifts. The wooden tables were worn in, and the entire place had an old-school vibe that was desperately missed by Toga.

In the background of the cozy little diner were two television sets: a white and a black. The left white television was currently playing a 24-hour human news station, Cable World News Network (CWNN), and the black right television set was playing a 24-hour vampire news station, Vampire News Network (VNN). Toga allowed the low volumes of both television sets to be the background noise of his currently wondering thoughts about the past and the present.

After King Kuran had informed them of his plans to wipe out the rebellious Korean pureblood group that had committed such a vile act, the gathered members of the Hunter's Association had decided to wait and see the results of his intended plan of action before deciding what to do on their own. In any case, getting into a Hunter-Vampire War would not be beneficial for either side and there was always the possibility that such a conflict would spill out and alert the still blissfully ignorant massive human population. Vampires had much more to lose if such a war and consequent discovery of their existence were discovered by the human population. After all, nothing could better unite all the combating, daft, and distressed peoples of the world than a universally recognized foe and enemy. Vampires talk a good talk, and they _did_ have unquestionable power, but human beings can also be truly frightening in their own right.

In the past one hundred years, many things changed, but still so many things remained the same. Human technology picked up drastically in the past century. The newest things now were air hover vehicles, hologram videos, trans-ocean railways, and pre-colony space stations. Technology had allowed the production of food to be a non-issue, and they had discovered a new brand new energy source – _Vaian_. Vaian was an ocean-based mineral first discovered at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Toga wasn't much of a science person, but he knew that Vaian helped make their sun's solar energy a more viable energy solution than it previously was one hundred years ago. It had something to do about the stabilization of the inner combustion and collusion of solar energy or something to that effect. _Whatever_. In the end, energy and food concerns - in theory - were pretty much solved and thus the human population exploded from only seven billion to about ten billion members now.

Furthermore, due to the discovery of Vaian, the Eastern and Pacific Island countries of the world had become respected world powers in their own right. However, Japan had first laid claim to the mineral and thus had re-established itself at the main superpower of Asia. 94% of all of Vaian production were owned by Japanese companies, and many Japanese business families could now rival the wealth of the oil producing kingpin dynasty families of the Middle East.

This was all well and good, but people never really change. In the human world, there were about seventeen different wars and international conflicts going on right now, and despite the increase of food production, the ability to _get_ that food to the starving had not _really_ improved. Millions were still going without food every day.

Nevertheless, still unknown to the human world, the majority of the world's big businesses and commerce were secretly controlled by the age-old vampire clans and families. So the majority of the wealth was still vampire wealth, and thus times really haven't changed.

There were still evil bloodsuckers and human madmen to kill. There were still battles and wars to fight. There were still problems to solve. There was still crime, blood, death, horror, and lost.

Nothing has really changed.

Toga looked at his seven different medications grumpily. For all of medical science's boasting, they still haven't cured the most important crap. Toga was still old and he was soon to die. _Wonderful_. All this change and they still can't change the most basic universal experiences of the human condition: aging, dying, and death. _Humph. Worthless doctors and scientists._ Toga thought. _When they cure death and aging, then I'll be impressed._

"I think we might be close to a breakthrough in the weapons' developments against purebloods." Kaito suddenly announced.

Toga shrugged his arthritic shoulders, grabbed his water and medication, and swallowed them all in one big gulp.

Kaito shook his head. "You would be better off taking them at different time periods throughout the day, Toga."

Toga rolled his single blue eye. "Don't even think about telling me how to take my own medication, Kaito." He took another gulp of his water. "What's the breakthrough in: defensive or offensive weapons?"

"Defensive and restraints."

Toga hissed his teeth. He preferred offensive type weapons and tactics. But restraints? Those could be very useful.

"Restraints, eh?" He rubbed his chin. "What's the breakthrough in?"

"Well, our inventors are trying to find a way to create restraints that lock away a pureblood's inner powers and aura."

Toga's eye lit up a bit. Wow! "Well, if that is possible, that's wonderful news." Toga hissed his teeth again. "You and I both know that pureblood justice for humans is nothing but pure garbage. They _always_ let their own off easier than what they deserve." Kaito nodded his graying head in agreement, and Toga continued. "If our inventors can do this, then we fight for the right to place all levels of vampires in our own prison systems when they commit a crime against humanity like what happen in Korea." Toga's lips pressed itself into a very thin line. "King Kuran's and all other pureblood excuses have been based on the fact that purebloods can't be controlled by anything humans create and that the best form of action is for _them_ to deal with judging the crime and issuing the punishments in that sphere of society. If these restraints prove successful…oh, the possibilities…" Toga smirked to himself. Then he leaned back in his chair. "What stages of development are those restraints at?"

"Late experimental. We need to test it on-" Kaito began to say, but immediately stopped.

The black television's sound volume that had on the 24-hour vampire news station roared throughout the entire room. A few sleepy hunters had jumped up and pointed their weapons at the front door thinking it was an enemy attack. However, the barkeeper, a twenty-something man named Michi Hashiro, had turned up the television's deafening volume.

"**VNN BREAKING NEWS, SPECIAL REPORT: ROYAL PUREBLOOD VAMPIRE DIVORCE." **

A beautiful vampire anchorwoman, Emi Yoshida, calmly looked into her camera and said, "Good Evening, viewers. It has just been reported that the Far Eastern Vampire Realm has been rocked with the latest discovery that the wife of Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire King Kaname Kuran, Queen Yuki Kuran, has started divorce proceedings against her royal husband. This comes as a massive shock to the realm as the couple had been peacefully together for the past ninety years. This surprising divorce is occurring on the eve of what would have been their ninety-first year wedding anniversary in less than one week."

Toga looked at the television set in utter dismay.

"WHAT?" He yelled.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Vibrations**

* * *

**Present**

Silver really wished he had a master with an easier life.

Things change far too quickly for his liking in this strange dark-haired man's life.

Silver sighed and massaged his head. He needed to revaluate his entire position again.

He had woken up and found that his master was not beside him in his bed or anywhere in his room. It wasn't as if that wasn't expected. It wasn't unusual for the man to leave him before he rose and considering what happened last night...well, Silver had a feeling that his master was plotting something.

Nevertheless, the evening was still very early. Silver had decided that he needed to fix his room and get it back into proper working order. Everything was out of its place, and it wouldn't really do for his master to see the place in such a mess if he were to come back here near the early-morning hour. Silver preferred to keep his room clean and tidy himself. Not only did it give him something to do during the long master-less periods, but he didn't want the various nosy servants to snoop into his affairs. Silver learned from the past that nosy servants tend to make a sticky situation even stickier when they discovered something about him he didn't _want_ discovered.

Butler Rio had been pleasantly surprised at his insistence to maintain and clean his own room and after his master had given him his permission to roam the private palace at his own accord, Silver had far more freedom in doing what he liked because Butler Rio didn't think he was just some shiftless freeloading pampered pet or something. While the relationship between Doll and Head Butler wasn't exactly friendship, it was mutually respectful, if a bit more pitying on the Butler's end.

Still, what a bombshell - his master's wife was divorcing him.

The relief that Silver had felt when he discovered the _real_ reason for his master chaotic emotional state was very tangible to him. Silver had thought his master had figured out Silver's past manipulations against him and had been extremely leery of his approach. It took great tact and good luck to figure out what best to do in such a situation.

His question, _"Master Kaname, whatever is the matter? Who hurt you?"_ was an intentionally open-ended question. His master would have been freed to answer however he wished, and Silver wouldn't have placed himself in unneeded jeopardy with guilt-like phases such as "It wasn't me." or "Please don't be mad." When Silver had realized he wasn't the cause for the anger, he had been able to relax and carry on with his illusionary persona of the ideal lover.

Still, he was getting a divorce. The summoning papers were probably being sent to his office right now.

Yet like a well-greased machine, Silver's calculating mind reflected on what he needed to do in order to come out on top in this extremely sticky situation. This wasn't the first divorce Silver had been involved in (and sometimes part of the cause of past divorces). So Silver had a bit of experience with dealing with it.

A divorce between his master and his wife could either be a very good or very bad thing for him.

In was good in a way because his master's wife was eliminating herself from being a rival to him for his master's heart and affection. If she were to leave his master, Silver would be able to take the supreme place of his master's emotional heart. It was obvious to Silver that the man had extremely few close associates. Consequently, the ones that he did have were of utmost importance to him.

During these past few months, Silver had been steadily conquering all the walls surrounding his current master's heart. It had taken a great amount of effort on his part, but Silver had made much progress with his relationship with the man. However, there were still some critical pieces missing before Silver could really fortify his hidden hold on the man's heart.

Seduction has three components – a feeling of danger, the intense desire to claim, and the illusion of love.

Silver slowly cultivated the intense desire to claim him in his master. The evidence was his master's rapidly developing strong attachment to him and their frequent and highly intense sexual encounters. Therefore, Silver was confident that component of his seduction web was covered, thus he could focus on the two other components: a feeling of danger and the illusion of love.

The seduction component, a feeling of danger, was something that Silver had been toying with implementing against the man for the past few weeks. There were many different ways to strike that nervous dangerous feeling in a lover, and danger, in and of itself, is a very powerful psychological weapon. Danger enhances excitement, and excitement enhances the thrill. When a victim/lover has the chance to 'conquer' the supposed danger a seducer presents, their emotional attachment to the seducer becomes more real and far more concentrated.

Silver had been carefully studying the man to figure out what the man feared the most and thus be able to inject a small form or undertone of it in their relationship. However, the fact that his master was a pureblood vampire king made such a component very difficult to identify, much less implement. After all, there were very few things that could make a pureblood vampire king tremble, and as a Doll, an imprisoned sexual vampire slave, Silver wasn't exactly the best type of creature that could inspire specific types of feelings of danger.

Well, not _physical_ danger anyway.

Silver had come to the conclusion that what his master feared most was linked to his emotional self. Unfortunately, Silver had yet to really figure out what that ultimate hidden fear of his Master Kaname was, but he felt he was close. Silver's hunch laid in the fact that his master's fear was based on one thing – lost.

Now, whether that fear of lost was due to his power, his station, his comfort, or his relationships remains to be observed. On the other hand, there were ways around the 'feeling of danger' seduction component. Thus, he needed to focus on the last and most important seduction component of all.

The Illusion of Love.

And it was this component _he_, Silver himself, felt the most leery and apprehensive of.

**Love**.

Silver Night, The Doll of Desire, The King of Pleasure, The Moonlight Siren, and 'The Master of Love' did not truly know what love _was_.

He had never felt or experienced such an emotion in his entire existence. While he had said the words of love countless of times in his existence, he never truly felt it. Whenever he said it, no matter how much it _seemed_ real, it was a lie of the higher caliber when such words were spoken from his lips. He truly felt nothing when he said them. Therefore, because he felt nothing, it wasn't really that hard for him to stab his various jailer masters in his or her back when they least expected it or watch as they were murdered in order for another vampire to claim him.

Even he knew that was strange. And he didn't like it. He didn't like that he was so comfortable with being a destroyer of lives and hearts. He didn't think his true self was ever like that.

Nevertheless, Silver knew what people who were in love did, and he followed their example in mimicking it perfectly. Even so, to actually _feel_ a connection between the emotion and the action was something that he _never_ understood. And, as the shadow person that he was, he probably will never understand it.

The sentence "I love you" is probably one of the most influential sentences a person can ever speak to another living being. Wars have been fought for and over those three simple words and its myriad of forms. Many nations have been laid waste because those words were misspoken or misused.

However, Silver knew that _love_ was the reason why his master had been so hurt and angry by his wife's divorce action. Despite the fact that Master Kaname had been bedding Silver for the past few months combined with the fact that he hadn't communicated properly with his wife for over a year, Master Kaname _still_ loved his wife. He loved her _too_ dearly – almost to the point of cruel obsession.

Which make his entire situation extremely tricky!

Silver could neither encourage nor discourage his Master in his intense yet twisted love for his wife. In fact, trying to blatantly break up the marriage was too risky and could backfire greatly onto Silver if he decided to try. A man's heart is a funny thing. If Silver tried to encourage the destruction of his master's marriage, it could led to his master feeling bitter towards _him_ as if it was Silver's fault that it happened. Therefore, instead of encouraging or discouraging, Silver decided to choose the safest opinion.

He would _support_ whatever decision Master Kaname, _himself_, made.

So, before they had slept after a few intense rounds of lusty activity (Silver believed the man had slept with him last night more for his own distraction in his confused emotional state, rather than a real desire to have him), he had whispered the words, "_I will always be beside you._" This allowed Silver to be as neutral a character in the upcoming drama as he could possibly be.

Silver would just stay by his master's side and make him feel better during the process. This course was safer and would be more beneficial to him in the long run. Master Kaname would be forever grateful to him for Silver's steadfastness to him during his time of need, and he could not blame Silver if the marriage/divorce did become a bloody mess.

But by darkness, the woman had great daring and nerve! Silver would give her that. She was able to demand to leave such a man and lifestyle. That takes a lot of guts, and Silver was impressed. Besides that, what had Master Kaname done to deserve it? Silver was also curious about that as well – extremely so. It wasn't like Silver wasn't well-versed of his master's darker ways.

If Silver had met the woman before this, he would have had a better idea of his position and standing with his Master Kaname, but she was something of a ghostly figure to Silver. Master Kaname rarely spoke of her to him, and that was an interesting... _suspicion_.

Usually during pillow talk, a master would feel safe enough to speak whatever was on their mind because of the relative feeling of closeness previous actions would typically inspire. Silver listened to many of Master Kaname's various work woes, business troubles, and court tribulations. In addition, Silver even listened to him speak about his children on more than one occasion.

But his _wife_?

Silver had yet to hear _her name_ from his master's lips.

Master Kaname was peculiarly extremely closed off when it came to _that_ particular matter and person with him, and Silver was increasing unsettled by it. It was a very odd matter, if his past experiences were anything to go by.

Silver had been tempted on numerous occasions to ask Butler Rio about the Queen, but something had warned him away from doing that. It was an alarming feeling, but Silver had followed it. If Master Kaname had wanted him to know of his wife, then he would have told Silver, but the mere fact that he didn't spoke volumes. Perhaps Silver _should_ learn who the woman was? She was clearly an important player in Master Kaname's dramatic life. And he knew ignorance is tremendously deadly in the nightfall world.

Nevertheless, despite his confusion of his master's tight lips on his wife and his relationship with her, Silver needed to focus on a more important matter for him at this moment in time.

Silver needed to get his master to _truly_ fall deeply in love with him, and this situation with his wife provided the prefect means for Silver to achieve this goal.

Silver felt that he was _almost_ there, but he wasn't quite certain how to initiate that _last_ push to his desired goal. The only way Silver would know if he achieved it is if his master said the words "I love you" first.

His master _had_ to say it _first_, **not Silver**. If Silver said it, he would be giving up his advantage and hidden control. His master had to say it first, and only then could Silver really pretend to love him back.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N: And thus the plot thickens! XD Thanks for reading, and please leave your wonderful thoughts of my story so far, in a little review! :) **


	34. Chapter 33 Players

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

Rima Touya, Ms. Bitch Lawyer Mastermind, was reflecting on the different stages of vampire divorce. While she had done a few vampire divorce cases before, she knew that none of her previous experiences had prepared her for what she was about to face. King Kuran was not an easy enemy. Scratch that – King Kuran had _never_ been an easy enemy. She was going up against one of the most powerful individuals on the planet and someone who was dreadfully feared throughout his realm.

Rima Touya only had the Queen's power and the possible public support of their cause to back her up and prevent her untimely murder. While Rima was sure that Kaname wouldn't really kill Yuki, that didn't mean _she_ would be safe from his grasp. It would be nothing to Kaname if he figured it was in his best possible interest to kill Rima and thus weakened Yuki's defense against him. Rima knew that if she went down, there would be no other lawyers willing to step up to the plate and represent the Queen, and Yuki, while extremely smart in her own right, didn't have all the necessary legal knowledge to help her best defend herself.

Rima had a dark feeling that Kaname was going to pull off a dirty tactic and trick, and she had no idea what it could be. With Kaname, anything was possible. The bastard king was notorious for his cunning and cruelty, so Rima tried to make sure all her bases were covered before she went into the first court session.

Unlikely human divorces, vampire divorces must be performed in its entirety in the public square. This is because private divorces between vampire couples have had a tricky historical record of ending with the unknown disappearance or outright murder of one of the divorcing parties involved.

A vampire divorce happens in three main acts, and each act has its corresponding stages. It involves two parties: the Petition Party (the one who begins divorce demands, in this case Yuki) and the Respondent Party (the one who answers the divorce demands, in this case Kaname). The first act of a vampire divorce is the Exploratory Phase, the second act is the Judgment Phase, and the third and final act is the Implementation Phase.

**Act I: Exploratory Phase**

This phase involves both parties, the Petitioner Party and the Respondent Party. There are five stages in this first phase, and these five stages are as following: the summons, the petition, the requested compensation, the answer, and the counter-petition.

_Stage One: The Summons_

The Summons is a call to action by the Petitioner Spouse who alerts the Respondent Spouse the demand for divorce and for them to have an immediate respond to the call for divorce. At this stage, the Summons has specific restraining orders that prevent the Respondent Spouse who is receiving the divorce papers from disposing of any family assets before there is an initial formal trial hearing.

_Stage Two: The Petition_

The Petition is the summary of factual information regarding the marriage told from the point-of-view of the Petitioner Spouse. The Petition will include such information as the marriage's initial creating, the marriage's during, and the reason why the marriage must be broken.

_Stage Three: The Requested Compensation_

The Requested Compensation is the stage that indicates what the Petitioner Spouse will be seeking from the Respondent Spouse for compensation due to the breakdown of the martial agreement between the two parties. It is a statement of intentional claim. However, due to the fact that it is essentially a wish list of recourse – the judging court will ultimately make the decisive decision of what will be split between the two spouses.

Once the Respondent spouse received the Summons, Petitions, and the Requested Compensation papers of the Petitioner spouse, he or she will have the right to response.

_Stage Four: Answer_

The Answer is where the Respondent Spouse can either 1) deny in its entirety the right of the Petitioning Spouse's demands for a divorce and/or 2) identifies those parts of the Petitioning Spouse's Petition which the Respondent Spouse does agree with or disagree with.

_Stage Five: Counter-Petition_

The Counter-Petition is the summary of factual information regarding the marriage told from the point-of-view of the Respondent Spouse – it will also include such information as the marriage's initial creating, the marriage's during, and the reason why the marriage must be broken or kept based on the point-of-view of the Respondent Spouse.

All five stages of the Exploratory Phase of the divorce can occur in a single public hearing and conference. This allows all parties involved to understand the position, claims, and demands made by their accusing party in the safety possible way.

**ACT II: Judgement Phase**

In the event that the Respondent Spouse _does not_ agree with the demands and claims made by the Petitioning Spouse, a judgment trial and jury will commence. A judge of equal or higher rank must be selected as the mediator, moderator, and arbitrator between the two disputing parties. An independent jury council of 40 members must also be formed and will decide the final ruling in the divorce dispute.

During this phase, each party is allowed to make all claims, present every type of evidence, and provide all confirmations for their various alleged substantiations against the other party. All facts must be verified and supported by objective, witness, and logically demonstrative facts.

The final jury council in union with the arbitrating judge will make the final ruling in favor of the Petitioning Spouse, or the Respondent Spouse, or may find that the marital termination request is null and void, and thus the couple must undergo the process of martial reconciliation.

**ACT III: Implementation Phase**

When the final decision is made, the Implementation phase will be initiated.

_Stage One: The Identification of the Couple's Assets and Liabilities._

This process can include, but isn't limited to, the reasons a spouse is seeking spousal damages, the basis of a request for child custody, and financial information about income and living expenses of each spouse.

_Stage Two: Settlement_

Both spouses and attorneys will endeavor to use the information received to negotiate a resolution of the issues. When the case has been settled, a document will be issued called the Marital Termination Agreement. This document is a contract that will settle the terms that both spouses will agree on to end their marriage based on the final decision of the jury council of 40 members.

_Stage Three: Trial_

If the spouses have settled the case and signed the Marital Termination Agreement, then this stage is simple. At an administrative hearing, both spouses presents for the court with his or her attorney and present the Marital Termination Agreement. After the court approves, the decree of martial dissolution is accepted and ratified.

However, if the parties are unable to resolve their disputes, then the fourth stage becomes another trial called the Contested Final Hearing. In a Contested Final Hearing, both spouses must each present their facts to the court, and the judge will decide if the reasons given are enough to dissolute the marital agreement between the spouses and will thus decide which spouse will receive what and how much of it that spouse will receive.

_Stage Four: Martial Bond Break_

If a rational settlement is achieved between the two spouses, the vampire martial bonds can be broken by the neutral moderating judge. Once the martial bonds are broken, each party member is free to carry on with their affairs as complete independents and will not need to ever interact with the separated spouse.

Rima sighed.

The first phase of Yuki's and Kaname's divorce proceeding – the Exploratory Phase Public Conference – would start soon. Every single vampire eye in the world was going to be watching the live event and Rima suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure.

She would represent Yuki, and Takuma would represent Kaname.

The rest of the inner-circle members would be in the audience, and Rima would allow a few members of the Hunter's Association to show up to the event as well. Pureblood nobles from around the Far Eastern Realm were also coming – even from places like Korea, China, and Mongolia.

However, she and Takuma need to figure out _who_ was going to be the neutral moderating judge because this divorce isn't going to be easy. Rima had a feeling that Kaname was going to contest the divorce and Yuki's to-be-great-revealed reason for it, so that wasn't really going to be unexpected. This divorce was obviously going to be done the hard way. However, the moderating judge for the second stage needed to be of equal rank or higher than the divorcing couple.

But Kaname was a Vampire Pureblood King and Yuki was a Vampire Pureblood Queen.

_Who_ in the world was going to be of equal or higher rank in order to be the neutral third-party judge in this entire affair?

The only candidate in the world who could be considered equal to a Vampire Ruler was _another_ Vampire Ruler! And that was impossible! Kaname would never agree for a foreign ruler to be involved in such a personal affair. Well, maybe if it was one of his allies of the Eastern Pacific Coalition, Queen Nguyen or King Smith, but Rima would never accept that! Those two would obviously favor Kaname!

All members of the New World Vampire Alliance (Kings Edwards and Martinez and Queen Brown) would also not be well received by Kaname due to them being outsiders and Kaname had a love-and-hate relationship with King Edwards. The members of the Ancient World Vampire Union (Kings Anderson (HA! Does she want to die?), Naser, and Kumar) were also unacceptable because of their relative antagonism towards the Far Eastern Realm.

There was _only_ one other person who could do it and _not_ cause a great big disaster: the Isolationist African Queen Biashara Bimnono. She was the oldest person in the world and was the most neutral of figures in modern vampire affairs as one could be. As long as you stayed out of her realm that is.

However, Kaname couldn't really find fault with her if Rima suggested it, but that wasn't the real problem. Queen Bimnono was notorious for not really caring for the affairs of her kind, and this was happening in a realm that she had no great connection to. But to Rima, that woman was the best choice on this matter.

But how can she convince Queen Bimnono to be the neutral judge in Kaname's and Yuki's divorce proceedings?

Rima felt like crying. She really was way over her head with this!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Players**

* * *

**Present**

The news report was playing that divorce announcement again.

"….._has started divorce proceedings against her royal husband. This comes as a massive shock to the realm as the couple had been peacefully together for the past ninety years. This surprising divorce process is occurring on the eve of what would have been their ninety-first year wedding anniversary in less than one week._"

Sosono turned off the television. The sudden silence in the room forced her to remember her most hated memory.

_Thousands of years ago, Great King Kaname Kuran crushed her newest revolt. He had bound her with ropes and chains, and she was forced to her bleeding knees before his feet. He looked at her with severe distaste._

_"You have started another rebellion to my rule, Rebel Lady Sosono." His dark-brown eyes cruelly looked down on her, and his dark and smooth voice vibrated throughout the corpse-filled field. "This will be the last time I will allow you to do this. You will be punished."_

_But Sosono was young and thus still defiant. "One day, Kuran," She hissed through a bloody eye. "One day, you will see this bloody, empty field of ghosts and corpses, and it will reflect the state of your black heart."_

_The Great King smiled at her coldly. "Perhaps, Rebel Lady Sosono, perhaps, you are right." But then his smile darkened. "But you will never be able to witness that moment. " He looked at one of his loyal servants. "Bind her in a Tomb of the Forsaken and put her on an island that no one will ever reach."_

_Sosono looked at him in abject horror. "I would rather be killed!"_

_But the Great King simply smiled at her. "I know."_

_And she was thus bound and thus she was forgotten. For thousands upon thousands of years, she was forced to live within a state of empty stasis. Unable to move, unable to breath – she lived a half-live. Neither fully alive or fully dead. She was abandoned, and no soul could reach her or give her hand a warm touch. Isolated on a lonely island and doomed to be forever alone, Sosono had numerous periods of madness._

_But then one day, a person came. A lowly ranked person from a relatively young pureblood vampire clan. A person that was very ambition. A person that looked at her isolated island and decided that it would be prefect to build a Vampire Prison._

_Thus the Head of the Kim Pureblood Korean Clan, Wan Hoo Kim, built her prison and during the building of that awful complex, Sosono was re-discovered._

It took decades to bring her back to her old self. The Pureblood Kim Clan had hidden her existence and had nursed her slowly back to health and sanity.

They did this not because of kindness but for her blood and thus her power. Yet she still owned a great blood debt to this young pureblood clan. However, she had an ancient grudge to settle with her long-time enemy.

The Chief Warden of Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island (located in the Sea of Japan), Min Chan Kim, looked at the ancient pureblood woman on his living area daybed.

"So, you have already heard?" He asked her softly.

The dark-haired woman turned to look at him and smiled. "Indeed." She placed the remote control down. "Such a wonderful device this television. To give such important information so freely. Such a wonderful device." She looked at him. "Has your older brother, the governor, told you anything about his meeting with our enemy?"

Min Chan shook his head. "He is furious that we've done such an action and thus endangered his position. He will protect us, if only to protect himself."

Sosono hissed. "He would have never gotten that position without my blood flowing through his veins!"

Min Chan said nothing. He knew the statement was true.

"But it doesn't seem like our enemy will let this incident pass by." Min Chan said. "Perhaps we should hold off on our other plans?"

"No." Sosono black eyes flashed. "We should intensify them."

"Intensify them?" Min Chan echoed. Another attack on the humans may not go as well as the previous one.

"We must make it seem like he cannot control his realm. Others will follow us if he is seen to be weak. However," she pursued her lips. "It seems that he cannot even control his own household." Her eyes flashed red. "This is an opportunity."

"An opportunity?"

"If a man cannot rule or protect his own house, then he has no business being a ruler." Sosono said. "If we can kidnap some members of his household, he will have to listen to our demands for Korean vampire independence."

Min Chan's face became white. "That's crazy! We could never even-"

"Summon our allies." She stopped him. She was in no mood to hear arguments. The youth of today have _no_ daring. "I have a plan."

* * *

Yuki was on edge.

Her daughter had run away from her home when she had learned that Yuki was getting a divorce. She had been missing for nearly an entire day and night, and Yuki had no idea where she was. While the vampire bonds between mother and child alerted her that Juri was not in any pain or in fear, it didn't really help her with much else.

Seiren and Mika rushed into her mansion's office, and Yuki looked at them expectedly. "Do you have any idea where she is? She's been missing for too long now and has not contacted home." Yuki was anxious. Juri said she hated her, and Yuki still felt the sting from her words even now. It was understandable that Juri would think this way, but it still didn't stop the pain in her heart whenever she remembered her first living child's harsh and angry words.

_"I hate you, mama. I hate you!"_

Seiren shook her head. "It's confirmed that she is nowhere on the grounds. I don't believe she's gotten far because she didn't even bring any clothes or money. She most likely is at a friend's house."

Yuki sighed. That was most likely the case. However, to say that Juri was 'at a friend's house' still doesn't say much. Juri had far too many friends and associates for one to easily pinpoint her location and -

"My Queen," A darkly amused male voice announced itself. "Your beloved daughter is at the home of her friend Fuyumi Kain, the only daughter of Akatsuki and Ruka Kain."

Mika had jumped at the sound of the unknown man's voice, but Seiren's silver eyes narrowed into slits. The unknown man stepped out of the room's shadows, and Seiren had to struggle to maintain her neutral expression and composure.

Seiren did not like this man.

He was called Yoshiro Yamamoto, The Queen's Dark Hand.

And Seiren found him to be a very devious and slightly deranged figure.

He always wore thick dark sunglasses that always hid his eyes and a tight black head-covering that hide from view his hair. He also had a small scar on the left side of his chin and while he always worn a serene expression on his face, he would commonly utter something profane and completely disgusting.

Seiren did not like this man at all. She didn't trust him, she didn't know him, and she didn't like the fact that Yuki and Yoshiro had some strange but twisted bond. Seiren felt that he was an extremely bad influence on her dear friend.

Yuki met and befriended this foul Yoshiro during the madness of her five lost years.

And when Yuki finally regained herself, he had stuck around her like a loving disease and bitter miasma.

The majority of Yuki's personal staff didn't really know what to make of the man and were quite leery about him. Often many would try to avoid him or leave the area immediately whenever he revealed him. While Seiren had never seen his eyes, she always had the feeling that he looked at everyone, other than Yuki, with a type of cynical sadism that could terrify the darkest of hearts. He was charged with doing unknown errands for the Queen and Seiren had heard that Yoshiro had strong connections to the criminal elements of vampire society.

However, the man had a blessed habit for disappearing for long periods of times, sometimes not appearing for months or years on end. Every now and then, Seiren would forget about the strange man's existence and so would the rest of the staff. However, when he _did_ return, his presence would reset the entire mansion and put it on edge until he left again. Yet, time and time again, the Queen would always accept him back into her household with an open hand.

Their bond was a bond between two people born during their time of madness and confusion.

"Yoshiro!" Yuki smiled at him slightly. "I haven't seen you for quite sometime." Yuki then looked back at the neutral Seiren and heart-holding Mika. "Thank you, Seiren, for your efforts." Seiren nodded her head, but still watched Yoshiro like a hawk from out of the corner of her eyes.

Why did that vile man have to show up _now_ of all times?

Yuki smiled at Mika. "And Mika can you inform the Kain household that we are aware that my daughter is there, and she should return here immediately." Yuki thought for a second and then shook her head. "_No_. Juri must still be upset at me, and I should give her space." She smiled at Mika again, but everyone in the room knew it was a false smile. "Can you go and take care of her Mika? She looks at you like family, so I know you can best comfort and calm her down about this."

Mika steady herself and then bowed her head. "Yes, my queen." Then the middle-age female vampire woman left the room.

"I've heard, my lovely lady," Yoshiro's dark dry tone started to say, "that you are about to engage in the _most amazing_ of _desperate_ _struggles_." He bowed lowly to her. "Whatever can I do to assist you, my lovely dark lady?"

Yuki looked at him for a moment. Then she slid her dark-brown eyes to Seiren and said, "Can you leave us for a moment, Seiren? I would like to talk to Yoshiro alone for a bit."

Seiren _really_ wanted to argue. She didn't want to leave Yuki alone with such a dark man, but Seiren couldn't really do anything about it. So she nodded her head and left the room.

Seiren really didn't like him. He always brought out the worst in the Queen.

**To be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** I really shouldn't be updating this story! (SMH) Man, I really need to be studying for that test but I just wanted to write. Gah! Quick! Someone fetch me an anti-plot/anti-writing medication! XD Well, thanks for reading and please leave a review.


	35. Chapter 34 Reactions

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Prince Haruka Kuran was getting the feeling that he was an idiot.

A really big and really stupid idiot.

Mother did not know about Silver and Father.

He had assumed because she looked so hurt and so angry that she had known. He had finally thought that he had figured everything out. All the pieces had fitted so perfectly together. So perfectly together! Haruka had known there was something – more likely someone – that had come between them.

Haruka darkly remembered mother's and father's huge fight nearly a year ago.

"_It was you." Mother had said. "It was you all this time." _

_Her eyes were a furious crimson hue. Her telekinesis powers erupted, and all the glass and windows in the Queen's Palace were shattered into a million pieces. Black butterfly wings made of her blood materialize on her back and glowed with a malevolent aura. Her Artemis rod had become a huge blood-red scythe, and she looked at his father will a rage that rivaled the cruelest of demons. _

_Father eyed mother carefully. He bit his finger, and the blood of that wound was transformed into a long blood-red sword. "It was for your own good, Yuki. He would have caused you immense pain when he finally became dust. I only did it to protect you."_

"_Protect me?" Mother repeated. "PROTECT ME?" She screamed. "YOU DESTROYED ME!" She took her scythe, aimed at father's pale neck, and whipped it. Father had blocked the attack with his sword and parried mother's attack to side. _

_Bursts of power exploded from the dueling wife and husband. Walls were crumbling. The ceiling and roof were becoming full of holes. All of mother's specially picked and highly expensive furniture was blown to bits. _

_They ripped into each other like staved and rabid dogs. Father was obviously the more powerful of the two, but mother's unholy stormy rage gave her the power at this moment to be his equal opponent. Blood flowed. Clothing was ripped off. Limbs were crushed. Organs were pieced. If mother's scythe could not taste father's blood, then she used her claws. If her claws could not feel father's tearing flesh, she would use her fangs. If her fangs could not rip out his throat, her eyes stabbed him with the blackest hate a woman who had gone through the darkest of hells and had barely come back could ever feel._

_It was obvious that father had not using all his power but he was slowly becoming a bloody piece of meat himself. Mother was equally so and as Haruka and Juri watched the fight from the side lines, they knew that if they allowed this to continue they would lose either one of their beloved parents or both. _

_Juri had cried. _

_Haruka had screamed. _

_And those two sounds woke mother and father from their battle to the death. _

_Mother had looked at them, and then she had looked at father. Without another word, she had headed towards them, grabbed both of them by their shaking arms, and dragged them out of the only home they had ever truly known. _

_Haruka had looked back at father briefly and saw his anguished expression. _

Haruka slowly rubbed his arms. That memory was terrible.

Father having a secret mistress-concubine-doll person made the entire exchange between his parents make more sense. After all, what wife wouldn't be livid if they found out that their husband was having an affair when she just survived an attempted assassination?

But their words were strange.

"_It was you. It was you all this time." _

"_It was for your own good, Yuki. He would have caused you immense pain when he finally became dust. I only did it to protect you."_

"_Protect me? PROTECT ME? YOU DESTROYED ME!"_

Those words made it seemed like the feud between mother and father was about something in the past and not the present.

According to Silver, he only took up residence within father's private palace for less than four months. So he couldn't really be the cause of mother and father's year-ago feud then.

So, really _why_ was mother divorcing father in the first place if it _wasn't_ because of father's current affair?

Wait, no, the real question now was - wouldn't _revealing_ father's current affair to mother _worsen_ their feud?

Haruka really was a great big idiot.

However, if Haruka were to be honest to himself - he wasn't too sad about the divorce between his parents. Haruka had never really formed a close relationship to his father, so his emotional attachment to him was rather null and void. Especially because of recent events! Haruka was slight happy that his father was experiencing at least some form of pain for his bad behavior.

Good riddance, Father. Pack up your bags, you evil cheater! Destroyer of our lives and home!

Haruka had decided that he was going to support his mother in whatever decision she made. After all, mother was the one who cared for him most, and he was the only good man in her life now. She would need his support. There obviously was a good reason behind her actions. Perhaps during the divorce hearing, he could learn the true reason why his mother was divorcing father?

The only downside to all of this was that Haruka was a bit sad that he wouldn't be able to really interact with Silver anymore. It really wasn't a good look to support your mother's rival in love was it? But Silver was a cool, if strange guy. Really, really strange, but he was very beautiful.

Haruka paused in his thinking…beautiful isn't exactly the most manly way to describe another dude. But then Silver wasn't really 'another' dude. If Haruka hadn't known better, he would have thought Silver was a girl at first, but then not really. Silver was all-male that was sure. Silver had been able to hold him off when Haruka had attacked him in father's gym. So, the guy was strong. Haruka thought more about it – yeah, it was the long silver hair that really threw him off. Most guys don't have such epically long hair. Don't girls usually have it?

Yet Silver was a weird mix of beauty and handsomeness. Maybe that was a Doll thing? Whatever the heck a Doll was. Haruka had never really heard of such things before but with some of the more subtle hints Silver had given him, Haruka realized that Dolls were some sort of…personal sex person? Really? Was that like another new class of mistress or on-the-side girl/guy? Like 'friends with benefits' or something?

But Silver had called his father 'master'.

That really bothered him.

Master wasn't…a good term to use in that situation and relationship was it? Doesn't that make it seem like Silver was a…_a slave_…or something?

That thought really disturbed him. Silver couldn't be a…_a slave_…to his father, could he? And not just any slave but a sex slave, eh?

If that was true, then Haruka's opinion of his father really fell to _an all-time low._ (As if it wasn't low already!) That was wrong, wasn't it? People shouldn't be forced to…to be something like that. And Silver was a cool guy. And cool guys don't deserve that! No one does!

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Haruka was suddenly ripped out his thoughts. The knocking sound on his bedroom door sounded too loud to his ears. Yet, ever so slowly, Haruka got up from his bedroom sofa and moved to his door.

When he opened it, Haruka blinked.

These two people weren't exactly who he thought he would be seeing at this moment.

"Waz'sup Har-Har." Isamu Aido smiled. "We heard about ya parents and we thought that we might, ya know, need to see if you haven't killed yourself or anything."

His other best friend sighed. "That's not a nice way to put it, Isamu!" Genji Ichijo snapped. "You need to be more careful with your words." Genji said as he balanced between holding a box of pizza and three cans of cola-cola.

Isamu Aido was one of the older children of the infamous Don Juan himself, Hanabusa Aido. He had long blond hair from his father, but he had hazel eyes from his mother. However, he seemed to be taking after his father's notorious hedonistic ways to the bereavement of his mother. He was something of a trickster and a lazy-good-for-nothing slob, but his intelligence surpassed most of the people his age.

Genji Ichijo was one of the twin children out of five of Sayori and Takuma Ichijo. He was a rare creature: the dhumpire. There hasn't been a dhumpire for over three centuries until he and his siblings came along. Every time Genji would enter a room, he received all manners of stares, which tend to keep the heat of the looks typically aimed at the anti-social vampire prince at a workable minimum. While Genji had the world-wide known cheeriness of his father, he was the most balanced of the trio of boys. He had short light brown hair and soft green eyes.

Haruka looked at his two best friends and heavily sighed. He moved to the right and allowed them it. Haruka knew by past experience that trying to ignore them wouldn't work. Genji would probably burst out into loud false tears, while Isamu would start singing some weird song. He would end up being so annoyed that he would be forced to listen to whatever they wanted to say.

Genji smiled at him and walked quickly towards his table to put down his gifts of manly sympathy. Isamu slowly sauntered after him and hopped onto his sofa spreading himself out on it without so much of a please or may I. Genji frowned at his blond-haired friend's rude behavior.

Genji turned around to Haruka and looked at his softly. "How are you doing with what's happening with your parents?"

Haruka frowned but decided to answer him. "As well as I could be." He then ran his fingers through his hair. "It's not really unexpected though."

Genji and Isamu looked at each other. "How come it's not unexpected? I didn't expect it at all! A royal vampire pureblood divorce!" Genji's voice raised itself a little higher. "I don't think this has ever happened before!"

"Well, father and mother did have that huge fight a year ago." Haruka maintained. "And my father is something of an asshole."

Genji and Isamu looked at each other again. They were quite familiar with Haruka's negative view of his father, and they couldn't really blame him. Some of the stuff they heard about Haruka's dad was really quite scary. If their parents weren't as close to the king as they were, then they would probably be too scared to even touch Haruka's shadow, much less be his best friends.

"Well, what did he do?" Isamu asked from his lounging position on the sofa. "Ya mother is a nice lady, so he must have done something extreme to cause it."

"I'm not sure." Haruka admitted. "I don't know what the fight a year ago was really about, but then father went and got a concubine a few months ago, and I told –"

"WHAT?" Genji and Isamu both yelled unison.

"A concubine a few months ago?" Isamu's hazel eyes snapped wide open. "I haven't heard a thing about that!"

Genji looked at Haruka pityingly. That must really suck. Your own dad was cheating on your mother – _so_ bluntly. Genji suddenly felt a brotherly sympathy for Haruka because he had had a similar situation with his father and that Shiki person a few years back! Well, his dad wasn't really cheating because mother had died. But when father started dating that Shiki man, Genji and his siblings didn't really like it. It had felt like dad was trying to replace the memory of mom with someone else! So, Genji could understand a least a little bit of what Haruka was going through right now.

However, after a few minutes of silence, Isamu got up from his position on his sofa and went to get himself a can of soda. Once he got it, he went back to his original lazy position. Isamu had Hanabusa Aido as a father. Thus, the idea of a man being completely unfaithful wasn't exactly a new reveal to him. But the fact that it was the king? Wow. That lady really aimed her sights high, huh?

"What's the name of ya dad's concubine?" Isamu asked in a more causal tone. "What family is she from?"

"She?" Haruka echoed. "It's not a she. It's a he."

The two other boys just stared at him.

"Say what now?" Genji asked flabbergasted.

But Isamu whistled. "Is the king the pitcher or the catcher in that relationship?"

"Isamu! That's not nice to say!" Genji growled at his crass friend.

"What?" Isamu defeated himself. "We are _all_ thinking it!"

"No!" Genji said. "That is just your dirty mind!"

"I don't have a dirty mind!"

"Yes, you do." Genji hissed.

Haruka decided to stop the developing argument, but an abrupt thought hit him. "Do you guys know what a Doll is?" Haruka suddenly asked.

Both teen boys looked at each other a third time, and in union looked at their royal friend. What a strange way to turn the conversation.

"What's a blushing virgin like you talking about Dolls fer anyway?" Isamu smirked. "Trying to become a man, eh?"

"That's not it!" Haruka hotly blushed. "I just met one the other day. Actually, he's father's concubine-mistress! But I don't know much about them. Dolls, I mean."

Genji simply stared. He wanted to damn Haruka's innocence and sheltered life! A Doll and a Concubine were two completely different things. A concubine was someone who willing engaged in such an affair while a Doll was...forced too.

But Isamu wasn't as tactful. "Haruka, ya poor dumbass! A Doll and a concubine are two completely different things." Isamu took a sip of his soda while Haruka hotly glared at him.

"I don't see how there is a difference-"

Isamu held up his soda can and shook it as well as his head. "There is a big difference. A really big difference. A concubine is a person, but a Doll is property."

Haruka hissed at Isamu. Silver wasn't property! He was a person! A nice and cool person! "Don't make it seem like Silver is just some type of toy! He's a person! And a really nice guy!" Haruka defended Silver's honor.

Isamu blinked at his clueless-to-the-real-ways-of-the-world friend. Haruka didn't seem like the type, but he always did treat all manners of people with respect. That wasn't really becoming of a pureblood, much less of a prince. It was probably the reason why he liked the guy so much. Haruka may be a pureblood and a royal prince, but he sure didn't let it get to his head. Yet this was just ridiculous! Just because this Doll named Silver was a nice guy didn't mean Haruka had to–

Wait.

Isamu stared at his friend for a moment. "What's ya dad's Doll named again?" He took another sip of his soda.

Haruka was still a bit mad at his friend, but answered anyway. "His name is Silver Night."

For the fourth time, both boys stared at each other in shocked horror.

Isamu chocked on his soda. "Silver Night?" Through a few wheezes he said, "You're father has _the_ Silver Night _himself_?"

"Yeah, and?" Haruka densely intoned.

"The Doll of Desire, The King of Pleasure, The Moonlight Siren, The Master of Love – Silver Night?" Genji asked. Of all the Dolls in the world, the royal family got him? Really? No master had ever survived more than 24 months after Silver came into his or her hand.

Silver Night was known by many names but there was one title that Silver was infamous for. He was also known as Silver Night, the _Harbinger of Dream's Destruction_. The fulfiller of all a person's desperate needs and ambitious wants, but in exchange, they would lose what they held most dear.

By darkness, was the kingdom going to end over this?

Haruka frowned. Why did it seem like his friends knew more about his father's mistress then he did? "He's called all that?" Haruka was confused.

"Haruka!" Genji explained. "Silver Night is the most desired Doll within the entire vampire realm. He is also the most infamous! Haven't you heard some of the stories?"

"Not really." Haruka rubbed the back of his head.

"When your dad gets's something, he really goes for the best, huh?" Isamu came back to himself.

Haruka stared. Silver was that famous and well-known?

Why?

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Reactions **

* * *

**Present_  
_**

_To the Defendant: _

_You are hereby summoned and required to respond to this summons, and to the request for legal separation and relief made by the Plaintiff by attending a First Council Divorce Conference at the Plaintiff's assigned location at the address stated below. _

_The **Golden Flower Conference Room** located at the **Imperial Hotel, Tokyo Japan** on the **First Day of the Royal Far Eastern Year at 8:00 PM**. _

_The nature of this action is to obtain a judgment of divorce, dissolving the marriage relationship between plaintiff and defendant due to the fact that the plaintiff finds that the marital relationship between plaintiff and defendant has broken down irretrievably thus the marital relationship should be dissolved. _

_The action for divorce will be based upon a to-be-revealed grounds during the First Council Session. _

_Neither party shall sell, transfer, encumber, conceal, assign, remove nor in any way dispose of, without the consent of the other party in writing, or by order of the court, any property (including, but not limited to, real estate, personal property, cash accounts, stocks, mutual funds, bank accounts, cars and boats) individually or jointly held by the parties, except in the usual course of business, for customary and usual household expenses or for reasonable attorney's fees in connection with this action._

_Neither party shall cause the other party or the children of the marriage to be in danger or be used as elements against the respective party in this proceeding._

_In the event that you fail to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you, by default, for the relief in this Summons with Notice. _

_January 2112_

_Yours,_

_Rima Touya, J.D. PHD _

_Representing Yuki Kuran, Queen of the Far Eastern Vampire Realm_

So, Yuki really was going through with this?

It was late evening, and Takuma had come and gone again. He had given Kaname the summons paper of his divorce against Yuki and had quietly hinted that he was going to do whatever is necessary to negotiate a private meeting between Yuki and he before the First Council Session. However, even after all these hours, Kaname still could not believe it. A divorce. From Yuki. Really?

He looked at the summons paper again in stark disbelief.

If Yuki thought he would allow her to get away with this – she was sorely misinformed and clearly did not know who she was dealing with.

Despite his calm expression in his empty private office, Kaname was internally outraged. And Rima! By darkness, how could Rima have the sheer audacity to support his wife in this foolishness? He was going to make sure to severely punish that stupid woman as well after this entire farce was concluded.

Nevertheless, Kaname's rage had cooled and his mind was zooming with well-practiced glee at finding a perfect solution to this latest problem.

His wife was still deeply attached to the memory of her beloved late Kiryu. However, Kiryu was, in actuality, still alive but completely transformed into his Doll, Silver Night. While Silver did not yet realize that he was Kiryu, Yuki would have to know of Kiryu's current living existence, if Kaname were to get his wife back. But then there was the possibility that Kiryu may resurface if Silver were to met Yuki. And thus Kaname may end up losing Silver to Kiryu, who would probably seek revenge against Kaname and tried to go back to Yuki, and as a consequence Yuki would be even more motivated to divorce him and then wed her 'first choice'.

Kaname didn't want that. He wanted Silver and Yuki to be completely his. He refused to let go of his precious possessions.

But was it logical to assume that Silver would become Kiryu if he met Yuki? Kaname was starting to doubt that hypothetical but logical assertion. After all, shouldn't have Kiryu resurfaced already if that was all it took?

To be honest, that piece of his puzzle was what completely baffled Kaname.

Of all the people to trigger Kiryu's return, Kaname thought he would be the person to do so. After all, it was Kaname who had arranged for his kidnapping and following murder. The fact that Kiryu wasn't murdered but somehow morphed into a Doll was something that Kaname had not predicted. He wouldn't have predicted such a thing to occur in his wildest imaginations! Hell, even the thought of ex-human twin-combined vampire hunter, Zero Kiryu, becoming a Doll was laughable, in and of itself.

"_Come on vampires. I've been pissed off lately." Zero Kiryu hissed._

_"Master Kaname, whatever is the matter?" Silver's deep voice was soothing and extremely concerned. "Who hurt you?"_

"_The Headmaster talks about the Night Class like they're good vampires who support his pacifism, but I don't trust them. I won't let my guard down. I'm cooperating so I can find the most effective way to kill those beasts in human form." Zero coldly explained. _

_"You are my master. I will accept and understand every aspect that is you. Everything you are - I will accept and understand because the sole purpose of my existence is to create and encourage your total pleasure and true happiness." Silver said as he bowed before him on their first night intimately together._

Yes. _That_ Zero Kiryu was _his_ Doll, Silver Night.

How the hell did that exactly happen anyway?

Kaname was unquestionably mystified. He had absolutely no idea how that happened. Even if he was fairly grateful that it had happened.

The only two people whom could even begin to answer that question weren't available to him. Kaname arranged for Kenichi Daisuki to take Kiryu on his wedding day. However, Kenichi was also a close servant of Masashi Sukakasi, one of his earlier contacts in the criminal vampire world. Kaname hadn't really cared much for Masashi, but the man was a powerful figure in his own right. His underhanded support and information network allowed Kaname to establish his power base more efficiently. However, in return, Masashi wanted the public renewal of the Doll trade. Kaname had agreed to it and when he had become the de-facto ruler, he'd official restated the practice.

Surprisingly, that action calmed some of the more rebellious parts of his new kingdom. The previous council outlawed the practice in conjunction with the Hunter's Association demands. When Kaname had obliterated the council and restated an old vampire custom, many vampire elitists were pleased. ("We now have a ruler who does not fear our original food source." One such man crowed.)

Nevertheless, that action had consequences because his restatement of that practice had cost him his friendly relationship with Kaien Cross. The mild-mannered man was completely against such an action. "_Kaname, almost all Dolls were once humans! This is the gravest of crimes! This will ruin an untold number of human lives! All Dolls are unwillingly forced into vampirism just to satisfy someone else's selfish base lust!"_

But Kaname had ignored the man and thus cut off all ties with him. It wasn't a hard thing to do. After all, his usefulness to him had ended once Yuki had regained her true self.

Yet, Masashi had been murdered by his half-brother and Kenichi had been missing for decades. Thus, Kaname had no recourse to figure out why and how Kiryu was still alive and alive as a completely different person totally unaware of his previous existence.

But the fact of the matter was, Kiryu - as Silver - was having sex with him - Kaname. He was having willing, sizzling, passionate, and extremely fulfilling sex with the one who had once tried to murder him.

If that fact wasn't something that could trigger Kiryu's first personality's return, Kaname highly doubted that Yuki's reappearance in their lives would be a trigger as well. However, reality was, Kiryu was _his_ Silver, but he did not even want the possibility of ever losing him. Not to Yuki, and not to anything or anyone else. Kaname claimed Silver as one of his valuable possessions.

Kaname coldly smiled. He doesn't _lose_ his valuable possessions.

But the question still remained – if Silver does meet Yuki, will her returned presence summon Kiryu? And if Kiryu did come to himself, would Kaname thus lose Silver?

Kaname spent the entire evening researching for a solution to this dilemma. He had as yet to come to a complete solution, but he learned something of great value in his research.

Silver Night could never get away from him because of one thing – the submission blood bonds.

The submission blood bonds of Dolls were weaved into their very bodies and souls. Such spells forced Dolls to achieve any and every command their respective master demanded of them, even if the Doll is questioned was in the mind to dare refuse such a request.

Kaname had completely forgotten about them.

Silver had been so satisfying and willing to please him, that Kaname had never had a need to force-command the man to do anything. In a way, Silver seemed to instinctively know what he wanted or needed, and thus he marvelously supplied whatever desire, attention, and pleasure Kaname had in mind or had a passing thought about.

However, there were only two main ways for the Master-Doll bond to be broken. The first way was that a master would have to first die, and if that master was killed by natural causes, the Doll would pass to a chosen person of that dying master. However, if the master was killed by unnatural causes, the Doll would be passed towards the victor. A sort of spoil of war, in any case. The second way was how Kaname had gotten Silver in the first place. When Kaname had discovered which traitorous family in his court was responsible for Yuki's year-ago assassination attempt, he had wiped out that entire family personally as judgment and punishment. His rage of the Noble Vampire Clan Head, Kastu Takahashi's, revolting power-hungry actions and sequent consequences filled him with a great desire to accomplish his vengeance in a special matter. But when he murdered Kastu in the Takahashi's Mansion, Kaname had unknowingly become the new master of the discovered Zero Kiryu/Silver Night.

What a strange set of circumstances. This entire situation occurred by the sheerest of luck! Had the Doll not been Kiryu, Kaname probably would have eliminated him as well, just to not have the bother. But the shock of seeing that person, who should have been dead so long ago, alive and well really flipped his world around.

Nevertheless, the murder of a Doll's master was generally the most common way for a Doll's ownership to be passed on. However, for a master to be murdered for a Doll wasn't widespread. This was because Dolls were toys, and toys generally break after some use. Most masters would replace their toys after they lost their interest or if the toy was damaged beyond repair.

But Silver Night was something of an urban legend within the vampire world. Silver Night was the Number One Doll of All Time.

At first, Kaname didn't believe it.

Now, that wasn't the case anymore.

If _only_ he had known that Kiryu would have become what he now was, Kaname would have gotten him so _much_ sooner. There was a void he had been lacking, and now he had it filled. Kaname wasn't about to let such a pleased and contented sensation escape him again.

Yet, there was a second way for the Master-Doll bond to be broken. That second way was that the master, himself, must break the bond freely between Master and Doll.

This had _never_ happened.

And will probably _never_ happen.

Why? Because to do such an act required great power and energy. Doll bonds were some of the oldest vampire enchantments, and the strength of old vampire powers was something that couldn't be argued. Therefore, if a master was foolish enough to willing break the Master-Doll bond, they would end up losing _half_ his or her life span and _all_ of their vampire power.

Such a consequence ensured that no Doll would ever be able to get away from their master. A Doll was a Doll for the rest of their entire life.

So, Kaname was reassured. No matter what happened, he would still have complete control over Silver Night/Zero Kiryu.

Kaname queer smile grew cruelly colder.

So, even when Yuki returned to their lives, Silver could _never_ get away from him.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N: Alrighty, this is just getting sad. ;_; Writing when I should be studying. (sigh) Well, at least you guys are benefited! XD Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts!  
**


	36. Chapter 35 Effects

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Fuyumi Kain, the only daughter of Akatsuki Kain and Ruka Souen-Kain, looked at her best friend and patted her shoulder with sympathy.

The two girls were in Fuyumi's bedroom in one of her family's many country estates. Fuyumi had decided to come here because she wanted some alone time from her parents, and her parents had allowed her to stay at one of their lesser known estates by herself.

But Fuyumi had a major life problem – she didn't really know what to do with the rest of her life.

Fuyumi had thought that she could talk to Juri about her problem because Juri was the most encouraging and best friend she'd ever had and Fuyumi desperately wanted to hear an encouraging word or two. Her dad was more of the silent action-type, and her mother was something of a mean but strangely lovable hag. But Juri would always be supportive of you when no one thought you could do it. That sort of undying faith in a person was what made Juri so well-liked. After all, couldn't anyone conquer a problem if you had such a faithful cheerleader rooting for you? There were many times when Fuyumi wouldn't have achieved something if not for Juri's undying support.

Yet Juri had come to her home in a fit.

So Fuyumi, being the perfect mix of Akatsuki's calm-headedness and Ruka's bluntness, had to throw her problems out of her head and focus on calming her friend down in order to figure out what was wrong with her.

But her friend dropped a bombshell on her.

Her parents were getting a divorce! The King and Queen were divorcing! When has there ever been a royal divorced vampire couple? She was utterly amazed and really didn't know what to say to her best friend. So she said what everyone else would say in this situation.

"I'm so sorry, Juri." The long-haired redhead whispered. "I'm sure there is a reason for it."

"There is no good reason!" Surprisingly, Juri hissed at her. Fuyumi slightly jumped at her friend's unnatural angry tone. "She's just angry at him for no good reason!"

Juri kicked her feet and then marched around Fuyumi's bedroom. She had run away from home as soon as her personal servant, Mika, had left her alone. She couldn't stand standing there! She was so outraged at her mother! How dare she? How dare she hurt papa this way! And hurt her as well!

Papa was a desperately lonely and needy person.

Furthermore, papa loved mama more than life itself sometimes! And mama would dare divorce him! Leave him? Why? What possible reason would she even have?

Mama was so at fault and so wrong for this! She couldn't imagine what her poor papa was feeling right now! Papa must be so hurt and sad right now! And he was always lonely and sad!

_"I am getting a divorce, kids." Mama looked at them steadily, firmly, but softly. "I am not doing it because I don't love you. I'm doing it because I do."_

Ridiculous!

It was absolutely ridiculous! If she really loved them, she wouldn't be getting a divorce in the first place!

Juri tried to understand her mother. Honestly, she had. But this was going too far!

Father has done nothing wrong! _Absolutely nothing to deserve this! _

It was mama who abandoned him nearly a year ago. It was mama who refused to speak with papa. Papa had asked and pleaded to speak with mama many times throughout this past year and mama just spitefully ignored him! She gave no reasons for any of her actions, and she just carried on in her own little world without a shred of care about how her or Haruka felt about this split between them. Haruka may pretend he doesn't give a hoot about papa, but she would see him look sad from time to time as well! Haruka just tried to be a tough guy all the time, sort of like papa! Honestly, men should just be honest with their feelings!

Papa was a kind and loving person. Why would mama want to leave him? She was hurting him. She was hurting papa for no good reason! Father must be so hurt and so sad and so lonely, right now!

Mad. _Mad_. **Mad**. Juri felt so terribly mad!

But suddenly, in spite of her maddening mood, an idea stuck Juri. Papa was by himself at this moment, wasn't he?

The thought made her freeze.

The only people close to him now were Silver, his knightly bodyguard, and the elderly Butler Rio. While Silver was such a nice and lovely and handsome and wise person, Juri didn't think a manly pat on the shoulder is what her father needed right now! And Butler Rio couldn't do it! Butler Rio was too professional and reserved, so he couldn't comfort papa well now either! Haruka was out of the question as well, so...

It would be up to Juri to do this!

"I need to comfort papa!" Juri suddenly snapped. Her friend Fuyumi stared at her, then she shook her head. _What just happened here?_ Fuyumi thought aimlessly.

Juri did always have to do something impulsive.

"Don't you think that you should at least hear your mother's reason for the divorce before seeing him?" Fuyumi slowly suggested.

"NO!" Juri slammed her hands on her hips. "I don't even want to see her right now. I'm too angry, and she told me to leave her presence – so I just did!" Juri said hotly. "Papa is the one that needs me most right now! He is probably so hurt and so lonely!" She continued in a calmer tone.

Fuyumi just sighed. Juri was the type to do whatever she wanted to do. She was a Kuran after all. Fuyumi decided she would just support her friend and be a good listening ear. It was far easier than trying to change Juri's mind about something.

"I'm going to go see him!" Juri announced. Her decision finally made. She was going to give papa a hug and try to fix this stupid thing between her parents if it was the last thing she ever did!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Five: Effects **

* * *

**Present**

As the reigning Dark Lord of Vampire Media, Senri Shiki was intriguingly amused.

When Takuma had informed him of his two cousins coming divorce, Senri had decided that this was his moment to gain his long incoming revenge against his cousin Kaname while also helping his beloved cousin Yuki.

_**Yes.**_ It was _he_, the always sleepy-looking Senri Shiki, that _leaked_ the information of Kaname's and Yuki's divorce to the vampire public.

If it was in Senri's character to do so, he would probably be manically laughing like a cartoon villain right now.

However, on the more serious side, there were many reasons for him to do this.

Reason one was that this was the biggest scoop of the century, and he wasn't about to let the Light Lady of Vampire Media, Hina Ajibana, get the scoop and publicity that this story was going to be.

Reason two was that he had a huge debt to Yuki. If it wasn't for her, he would probably be dead and his mother would still be insane and unbalanced. Senri hadn't really done much for her, and so he decided that he would be a hidden ally of Yuki in this. The media was something he understood the best, and she was going to need all the support she could possibly get. Kaname was a powerful and fearful figure in the public eye, so it was rare that anyone had the gall to go against him. And Yuki was dearly liked by the realm because she was the only person able to curve Kaname's more ruthless tendencies from time to time. However, no person is immune to the power of public opinion, and he was going to make sure she looked like the beloved, rightful, and good queen she was in the public square while also dragging Kaname's image down a notch.

Senri had to deal with all sorts of problems growing up. Senri's father, Rido Kuran, left him with nothing. And for decades, his mother had been in a crushing and sanity-lacking depression, so she was not able to provide for him after their wealth and savings had run out.

So, Senri had taken up modeling in order to support both himself and his mother, Rukia, and he had learned that the world was not a kind place, and that perception was often times more important than reality.

Senri had worked his way up. He went from model to agent to manager to business owner to President and Founder of Shikian Media. He owned 2 big channels VNN (Vampire News Network) and VMS (Vampire Music Station) and had key influencing positions on four other major vampire television networks. Senri now lived as being the great unseen hand of vampire media, but he wasn't going to just be that any longer.

He owned Yuki his life. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be here today. So, he was going to help her get a chance in this fight against Kaname. Rima was good with the legal matters. So, Senri was going to make sure every vampire eye that paid attention to this affair would be rooting for Yuki.

As the Dark Lord of Vampire Media, Senri knew exactly how to spin a story that while it initially seeming unbiased would actually be very bias in Yuki's favor. Certain code words would be used to paint the picture that Kaname was an evil, scumbag husband and Yuki was the poor put-upon wife. Even if it wasn't 'exactly' true, Senri would shape public opinion into Yuki's favor.

Of course, it wouldn't be too obvious (Kaname would viciously destroy him if he figured it out), but he was going to do his best to secretly influence public support on Yuki's side in her divorce against Kaname. The power of public opinion is a very scary thing. When the majority wants something done, then not even a King can deny them.

So, all he needed to do now was get Takuma to agree for his channel, VNN, to be the sole host and only news channel source for this entire affair.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later...**

As the three men waited for the rest of the inner circle to gather at their lonely upscale bar and lounge in Tokyo, Hanabusa Aido had decided that now was the best time to get roaring drunk.

His cousin, Akatsuki Kain, did not think that was the wisest of courses. He took the 7th bottle of rum of Hanabusa's out of his hand. Takuma nodded his approval at his action.

Hanabusa gave them both a dazed blue-eyed glare. "Hey! Eat, drink, and be merry, for soon we will all die!" He hiccupped.

Akatsuki sighed. "I think you've had a bit too much to drink."

"The world's ending...so I don't think...I've had...enough!" Hanabusa slurred. "By darkness, I haven't even been...married yet. It's not supposed to end right now!"

Akatsuki raised a single red eyebrow. Married? Hanabusa? Takuma and Akatsuki shared a mutual disbelieving stare.

When that actually happened, then Akatsuki would know the world did indeed end.

Hanabusa gave his cousin a drunken glare, but it made him look cross-eyed. "I've just never found a woman I could love like that."

_So, you are sowing your seeds along the path until you do?_ Akatsuki critically thought.

Hanabusa had a feeling that his cousin was internally mocking him. However, Hanabusa was the type of man who never liked a woman he couldn't sleep with. If he couldn't sleep with you, he didn't really like you.

Which, coming to think about it, probably explained why he never touched any of the females in his closest circle. Yuki Kuran was obviously off-limits. Ruka was an Ice Witch and was already claimed by his pitifully whipped cousin Akatsuki. Rima Touya was too much of a ball-buster and would have probably tried to castrate him if he even suggested it. And Hanabusa seriously believed that Seiren was a lesbian. Probably. Maybe. Well, she had _better_ be one. That would be a damn shame if she was an over hundred year old virgin. Nah, what do you call those types of women again? Old maid? Yeah. That's it! Seiren was an old maid or maybe a lesbian. She had to be one if she didn't even show _him_ the _slightest_ bit of _interest_. Yeah.

He hiccupped again and his phone buzzed.

Hanabusa looked at it and saw that it was a text message from his latest affair. What was her name again? Megan from...some western country?

He briefly looked at her text and then speedily re-texted his latest conquest with one of his typical replies. "My darling love, you are a woman who made me feel greater than myself. I am happy to have finally met you." He typed.

"Stop that, Aido!" Takuma snapped. He was right beside him, so he had seen the message. "Stop playing with someone feelings."

"I'm not playing with someone's feelings!" Hanabusa defended. "I tell women exactly what I want with no real illusions up front. If they think by sleeping with me, they can change me – that's their self-lie and problem!"

"A dog is a dog, no matter how nice the fleas." A low female voice wirily said.

Hanabusa blinked. Well, speaking of old maid lesbians! Seiren looked at him with wordless disapproval. Hanabusa frowned. Seiren always looked at him with wordless disapproval. Meanie woman! Nevertheless, behind her were Ruka and Rima.

Ah, the women have arrived.

Ruka gave him her typically snooty annoyed glance. Rima smirked at him but decided not to comment. Any woman who was suckered enough to fall for Hanabusa's tricks received no sympathy from her. She looked at her watch and then announced to all present. "Senri said he'll be here in a few minutes, so let's wait on the real conversation until he gets here."

Takuma slightly froze at the announcement of Senri's soon-coming arrival, but then he pasted on a thick smile. It was over three years ago! And Senri obviously moved on. However, Takuma did still feel very guilty with how he treated Senri. Takuma would say that he was a nice guy the majority of the time, but with Senri...he had not been a very nice guy.

And Takuma felt really bad about it. _Too _bad. He should have listened to his head and not his deceptive heart. If he had, he wouldn't have hurt such a close friend.

But Takuma would try and make it up to Senri in the best way he could! He would be very happy for him. He would be happy for Senri and Rima.

Still, there were other matters to get on to. Takuma looked at Rima with a serious expression. "Rima, are you crazy?"

Rima pressed her lips tightly together. What was with everyone questioning her sanity lately? "They haven't finalized the diagnosis yet, but I'm sure if I take the blue pill, everything will be fine." She sarcastically said.

Ruka huffed. "Don't even try to enlighten her, Takuma. She won't listen to reason!"

Rima shook her head. Despite her annoyance with her friends, even she was starting to question her sanity. After all, Rima still didn't know the real reason behind this divorce action against Kaname by Yuki. By all accounts, Kaname's and Yuki's marriage was an exemplary one – especially for such a powerful vampire couple.

Kaname embodied everything a vampire wished to be – he held world-changing power, he was unbelievably handsome, his cunning was legendary, his ruthlessness was equally so, his intelligence surpassed vampires three to four times his age, and his ambitions could dominate all who stood against him.

Yuki was a good ying to Kaname's yang. She was beautiful in her own right, her insights into vampire psychology were uncannily accurate, she knew when to be diplomatic and when to use force, and she was apt at business and creating wealth. After all, it was Yuki that had learned of the possibilities of Vaian and had made critical investments before its true potential was discovered.

Separate they were powerful but the two together were an unstoppable force.

Still, sometimes Rima would sort of miss the Yuki that would have married the ex-human hunter. When Kiryu-chan was gone, Yuki lost one of the elements that made her _Yuki_. She was still Yuki, but different. She wasn't as warm, she was more...cool. Rima had no idea what to make of it. And being with Kaname wasn't exactly the best way to bring back the old Yuki. Kaname was the type to nurture a person's darker nature if it fit his desires better. Then again, who knows what that Serpent King wants in the first place?

Yuki had told Rima that she would reveal her true reason for her divorce against Kaname after Rima finalized all the requites with Takuma. Rima had been dreading that reveal, but at the same time she was very thankful. She'd placed her life on the line for this, and learning what this reason actually was would really give her the strength she needed to carry this thing though.

Takuma sighed. "Rima, is it possible that Kaname-sama and Yuki-chan meet each other before the First Council Session? Surely, if they talk about it, they can come to a better agreement!" Takuma wiggled his fingers. "After all, this is so unexpected and unneeded! Kaname-sama was really angry and hurt by what Yuki-chan is doing!"

Rima pressed her lips tightly together. It wasn't as if Rima _hadn't_ suggested that to Yuki before going through with this, but Yuki had told Rima under no uncertain terms that the only time she would lay eyes on her husband again was when they were in the council room together. The ominous look in Yuki's dark-brown eyes had not only shocked Rima out of her wits, but made her know that whatever Yuki's reasons were for this divorce, she was deadly serious about it.

Rima looked at all those at the table as said, "It's not going to happen, Takuma. Yuki doesn't want to see Kaname – _**ever**_. And that's final."

The was a pregnant pause between the inner council members.

Then Seiren and Akatsuki nodded their heads like it was expected. (Those two were always so accepting! It made Rima want to shake them!) But Ruka hissed her teeth in annoyance, while Hanabusa rested his head on the table heavily.

Rima's blue eyes locked onto Takuma's green ones as they studied each other for a moment. Something about this wordless exchange stuck a cord in Rima. This may well be the last time she could consider this person a friend.

"Sorry that I'm late everyone." A yawning voice interrupted the inner circle's silence. Everyone sort of jumped at the unexpected announcement of Senri Shiki. "I had a few meetings that I couldn't get out of."

Blue and green eyes looked at the sleepy-looking Senri Shiki. There was a slight twist of his lips. "Why don't we all get started with this meeting?" Senri lightly smiled.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, my exam is over. I am happy with that, but for some reason it was somewhat hard for me to get to writing. Perhaps its the lack of energy or lack of inspiration? X( School and work makes writing hard! :-/ Anyway, thus the story marches on! **_Thanks for reading and please leave me a lovely review!_**


	37. Chapter 36 Uncover

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

_**The Day after the Wedding **_

Her ex-hunter father, her silent brother, her weary friends, and two highly agitated vampire hunters were at Zero's apartment.

"There are obvious signs of a massive struggle." Kaien Cross seriously said, for once back to his old hunter persona. "It seems like he was viciously attacked at his car. I'll say maybe 8 to 10 Level C Vampire Men."

The mix group of purebloods, nobles, hunters, and humans looked at Cross limply. Yuki was stringently holding a small tattered piece of Zero's white wedding suit.

"WHY DIDN'T HE HAVE HIS WEAPON ON HIM?" Toga loudly hissed. He had searched through Zero's bedroom apartment and found something he had not wanted to see. That foolish boy! That thing, of all things, shouldn't have been there! It should have been in Zero's hand when … Toga held Zero's beloved weapon – The Bloody Rose – in a tight bloodless grip. "Zero could have taken twenty Level C vampires on his own if he had it!" Toga's single blue eye blazed with unchecked wrath.

"Calm down, Toga." Cross snapped. "Yelling and anger isn't going to solve this!"

"Damn cowardly vampire beasts!" Toga was beside himself. "There probably is a noble or two behind this. That's the only explanation!"

The vampires present didn't too much mind Toga's general racial insult. They knew how serious the situation was that petty things like vampire pride and ego wasn't needed right now.

"We will find him." Yuki said desperately but resolutely. "_I_ will find him." She promised more to herself and her missing true love then for the people in the room.

_**A Week Later**_

She didn't sleep for the past few days. Her eyes were dry and weary. Her body was tired, but she would not sleep. Why sleep when during that time, she could possibly get another important clue as to Zero's whereabouts? She didn't need sleep. Sleep would just waste precious valuable time.

And time is so important right now! Zero was the one who didn't have it. Once Yuki found him and he was healed and okay, then she could sleep for however long she wanted beside him. So, sleep could wait. Sleep wasn't important.

_I have to find him._ Yuki desperately thought to herself. She stepped outside into the moonless night again.

_**Week Four, Day 6 **_

Yuki looked over her body. She could now see her ribcage. She had always been slightly on the thin side, and she always hated that. Being so skinny wasn't very feminine or girly or womanly. Women were supposed to have breast and curves, and she was a walking cardboard box. Or so Zero would have maybe said if he could see her right now.

She should eat something. Her stomach was crying with hunger pangs.

She ignored her belly.

Eating wasn't the most important thing she had to do now.

And eating was a hard thing to do. Eating took a lot of time. First, you had to go into the store and buy the ingredients. Next, you had to cut up each food item. Third, you had to wait as the meal was cooked. And last, you had to sit down and actually eat it. A meal could take anywhere from thirty minutes to three hours for preparation, cooking, and eating time. That was a lot of time wasted. She couldn't waste time with something like that now.

Yuki would just cover her body with thicker clothes, so her friends and family members wouldn't notice her malnourish state. She needed to go back out and start her search again.

_He always found me, so now it's my turn to find him._ Yuki thought to herself as she put on her thick black coat and stepped into the cold outside world for a sixth time that day.

_**Month Three, Week 3, Day 5 **_

Today, a suspicious man approached her with a possible key clue as to her Zero's whereabouts. His name was Kenichi Daisuki and Yuki had an unsettled feeling about him.

He told her to come alone and inform no one of him contacting her. Yuki had thrown all logical caution to the wind and agreed to it. It had been too long since she found such an important clue and clues for Zero's location was getting even more spare than they had to started with. Its been months since Zero was last seen. So, she met with the odd man.

Why would Yuki do something so stupid and reckless like that? Simple, because this strange and face-scarred man had presented her with one bloody button of Zero's white wedding tuxedo. She would know that button anywhere. Their wedding planner arranged for Yuki's and Zero's wedding outfits to be the only ones in the entire world. That button was one of the missing buttons from Zero's ripped apart tuxedo.

However, he wouldn't give her any more information without her giving him something in exchange.

"I want some of your pure vampire blood." The half-scarred man slyly suggested. His bloody eye was gloating at her naked desperation.

Yuki wanted to rip the man into bits at such a suggestion. But if it would help her find Zero she would do anything.

She agreed to the trade.

Kenichi smiled at her and gave her the clue she needed. "I found that button in a cave during my hikes in the Aokigahara." Yuki stared at him silently as he hurriedly left her presence.

_The Aokigahara?_ Yuki thought in complete astonishment. What in the world? How could Zero have gotten so far? When did he get there of all places? And _why_ was he there in the first place?

That place was a very popular place for suicides.

_**Month Four, Week One, Day 3 **_

The Aokigahara, also known as the Sea of Trees, was a 14-mile forest that lies at the northwest base of Mount Fuji in Japan. The density of the trees and the absence of wildlife made the forest exceptionally quiet.

They had all come here and searched. The hunters, Cross, Yagari, and Takamiya, took the east side of the forest. Kain, Aido, and Ichijo took the west side of the forest. Senri, Seiren, Rima, and Ruka took the south side of the forest.

Kaname and Yuki took the north side of the forest. They were in the caves.

And she found the room.

His old and dried blood was everywhere in it. It stained the icy-cold cave walls like a morbid paint job. Numerous knives covered with rusted blood were left everywhere. Bloody chains, broken whips, and ripped apart wood pieces were scattered on the floor. A large metal cage was broken and bend at weird angles.

_This can't be!_ Yuki thought. _No. No. No._

So much blood. Too much blood. Such a massive amount of blood lost...

Zero couldn't have been trapped in such an evil place. **He couldn't have.** _He couldn't -_

But the room had his unique scent of sandalwood.

_Impossible…_

There were bloody bits of his torn wedding clothes and odd-placed silk pieces.

_It couldn't be…_

And his silver-gold earrings. Her engagement gift to him. She had spent so much time looking for the perfect gift for him.

Shock overtook her.

Her pale sickly skin was cool and clammy. It was quickly turning into a pale gray color. She started to hyperventilate, and her pulse started to pump rapidly but weakly. Waves of intense nausea overtook her body, and she fell upon her knees. Green bile, the single saltine cracker she ate, and blood burned her throat as vomit raced out of her mouth.

"YUKI!" Kaname held her, but he sounded so far away. "What is wrong?" He panicked.

She couldn't understand what he was asking her.

_No. No. No. No. No_

Her mind was twisting, spiraling, bending. There was madness all around her. Her dark-brown eyes had a lack luster glow, and her black pupils dilated to an unnatural degree.

_No. No. No. No. No. _

Her stomach twisted. The pain of her sudden onset of pelvic cramps shot up her spinal cord. A persistent dull ache in her lower back vibrated throughout her body. She vomited her bitter madness some more.

A cold weakness trembled through her limbs and raced through her mind.

_No. No. No. _

Zero couldn't be –

"YUKI!"

_No. No. No. _

Heavy bright-red blood poured down her bruised thighs and legs, and the bleeding _wouldn't stop_.

"YUKI!"

Time seemed to stop. Every sound seemed so far, far away. She could only see blackness. Pure blackness. She couldn't see anything but blackness.

And silver and purple and white and blackness and -

She was falling.

Distantly Yuki thought, _Perhaps I can find him in death._

Yuki went comatose.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Six: Uncover**

* * *

**Present**

Rima would be arriving soon.

Queen Yuki Kuran closed her dark-brown eyes.

Today was the day she would finally reveal to Rima why she was divorcing Kaname.

Yuki's ability to break memory spells on herself and those she interacted with had grown more powerful over the long years. She could interfere with memory blocking spells through touch and blood. So when she had drunk her soon-to-be ex-husband's blood to heal herself one year ago, she had naturally removed the block memories inside her husband's mind. She had done it without really thinking about it, and Kaname had been very distracted by the events of her attempted assassination.

But those blocked memories were not done by an outside force. _Kaname_ blocked those memories _himself_. She hadn't known he could do such a thing, but when she relived his blocked memories in her healing sleep – she knew why he hadn't informed her of this ability of his.

She saw him plotting Zero's murder. She saw all his dark thoughts and intentions against Zero. She saw Zero's 'Don't be sad' sympathy speech to him. She had seen Zero's intentional care and trusting clear amethyst eyes land on Kaname when they got ready together for his wedding.

_"I doubt anything will happen Kuran." Zero wirily intoned. "After all, you'll be there." Zero friendly patted Kamane's right shoulder as he walked toward the exit."This is the only time you will ever hear me compliment your power, Kuran." Zero gave Kaname an ironic but gentle smile. "You're a powerful and scary guy, but at least you are on my side, eh?"_

_Kaname had felt a sudden wave of shocked guilt, but before he could have pondered the feeling further ...Kiryu was out the door._

Yuki saw the men who murdered Zero surround him at his small car.

_Zero fought like a wild white tiger. _

_His wedding suit was torn and bloody and was barely hanging onto his wounded body. Zero had broken his right hand, and his left arm and leg was throbbing._

_Zero was desperate. He was bleeding. He was in intense pain. _

_Kaname thought that perhaps he could stop this. He could stop it but if he did, then he would end up - _

_Zero looked at him suddenly. The men attacking him for a brief moment were completely forgotten. Clear purple eyes met unsure dark-brown orbs. Zero reached toward him with a bloody hand. "Help me, Kaname."_

_He could stop it, but if he did, then Kaname would end up alone. _

_**So, **__**no**__. __**He wouldn't stop this.**_

_Kaname took a revolted step back. "And allow you to have my happiness? Never." He ruthlessly said._

She saw Zero's face at that moment.

_Zero's gentle heart was torn to shreds at that moment. The shocked realization. The sudden understanding. The pain of such a willful betrayal. His watering questioning eyes were full of a thousand questions. Why? __**I trusted you, Kaname**__. Why? __**I believed in you, Kaname.**__ Why? __**I started to care for you, Kaname. **_

_Why Kaname? _

_And Kaname did not want to answer. He would never answer for what he chose to do. _

She watched as the men finally knocked Zero unconscious and drag him away. She saw as Kaname paid Kenichi for his services. She watched as Kaname jumped into his car and drive to her location.

She watched as Kaname looked at an excited and overjoyed younger version of herself and told her that Zero said he was on his way to there.

Kaname's memory of everything chilled her to her soul. Zero actually trusted Kaname. Even when he was fighting those men, he had asked him for his help. Still trusting. Still hoping. Still giving Kaname that _one_ last chance to redeem himself. But Kaname had just cruelly refused and had simply watched as they took him away to be murdered. And then he had the sheer unprincipled impudence to lie to a stupidly trusting young Yuki and say that Zero was on his way.

If Yuki's deep-black hate against her husband were unleashed - it could burn the entire world into ashes. But she couldn't unleash it. Unleashing it wouldn't bring Zero back, and she was not going to go insane again. If only for his sake.

But Yuki was going to take away everything she could from Kaname. She would destroy his reputation and name. She was going to rip his kingdom apart. She was going to take away as much of his beloved dark power as she possibly could.

Kaname was going to suffer for what he did. The rest of his entire life would be one of pure suffering.

Just like Zero's last few moments in this cruel and unfair world was undoubtedly full of suffering.

Yuki had decided that she would be Zero's hammer of justice from the grave.

**Kaname will suffer.** Yuki promised to herself.

This _promise_ she would _keep_.

* * *

Haruka felt like a clueless fool.

A really big clueless fool.

Silver Night was not a nice and cool guy.

The stories of Silver Night's past that Haruka had now learned were beyond belief.

Isamu and Genji had shown him a few websites that contained all of Silver Night's past escapades, masters, and events. These websites were something like a fan site for an infamous celebrity and had launched great topics of discussion throughout the online vampire world.

Haruka had spent the entire day and night reading story, after story, after story of Silver Night's past.

Story #1: One son murdered his own father to claim him.

Story #2: Another story involved a wife poisoning her long-time husband in order to get Silver to embrace her.

Story #3: A mother killed her daughter to get Silver herself.

Story #4: A top business leader bargained with his rival - one night with Silver for a fair merger agreement. Both companies were destroyed during the process.

There were so many different stories. So many different, scary, and strange stories of the past of Silver Night.

Haruka did not want to believe any of it.

It couldn't be true. It couldn't be!

However, Haraka had learned one thing - the majority of the people who talked about Silver Night didn't even know what he truly looked liked. The physical description of Silver was off some of the time and complete wrong at other times.

Some said he had short black hair. Others said he wore glasses and had pure silver eyes. Still others said he was had a tan complexion.

If they could be so wrong about how he looked, couldn't they be wrong about Silver himself?

Haruka actually met Silver. He was nice to him and his sister. He played with him. He had complimented him. And he defended him from such a scary person like his father.

How could _that_ person be this…this _dangerous_ incubus and destroyer of lives and hearts and families in these online stories he read?

Haruka was confused.

And hurt.

Perhaps Silver wasn't the reason his parents were feuding and now divorcing, but something told Haraka that Silver's presence in his family would further destroy it.

Therefore, while Haruka was confused and hurt, there was one emotion he felt the most at this moment.

Haruka felt highly betrayed.

By what exactly, he didn't know.

* * *

Rima wondered if she heard Yuki correctly.

"Are you telling me that Kaname is the one _responsible _for Zero Kiryu's, your late fiancé's, _death_?" Ms. Bitch Lawyer Mastermind asked in shocked horror.

"Yes." Yuki looked at her deeply.

She finally revealed it.

Yuki had finally revealed her darkest pain and hurt and sadness to someone she could completely trust now.

She had held it in for such a long time - one year of being the only one who knew the truth.

The feeling was somewhat freeing.

Yuki looked at her dear friend softly. Rima's mouth was opened, but she didn't utter another sound. "I saw Kaname's hidden memories of his past plot when I took his blood to heal myself after that assassination."

Rima felt like her heart had been torn out of her. She couldn't move where she sat. She just couldn't move.

It was two days after the Inner Council meeting. When Senri arrived, they were all able to get down to busy. However, Rima knew that the Inner Council itself was splitting apart.

On the Queen's side, were Rima and Senri. However, Rima suspected that Seiren was also on the queen's side, but since the woman made no obvious declaration, Rima didn't want to bet on it.

On the King's side, were a sad-faced Takuma and drunken-but-sobering Hanabusa.

Akatsuki's position in this conflict was obviously neutral. (Like always.)

But surprisingly, Ruka was torn between the two.

Even so, Rima was able to suggest Queen Biashara Bimnono as the neutral moderating judge. Takuma had stared at her for a few disbelieving seconds but then agreed that she was a good choice. They then agreed that they would work together to convince the African Isolationist to agree to be Yuki's and Kaname's moderating judge. Rima had been amazed that Takuma had so readily agreed with her. But then again, Takuma had always been a go-lucky person.

Surprisingly, Senri had then asked if his station, VNN, could be the hosts of Yuki's and Kaname's divorce proceedings, and unexpectedly, Takuma had also agreed to that! Rima was a bit floored at that as well. After all, both she and Takuma knew that Senri had no great love for Kaname. And as a leader in media, Senri would have a key influence with the public perception of the divorce. However, Takuma allowed Senri's station to be the televised host of this entire affair.

Very strange.

However, Takuma's reasoning for it was most surprising.

In the event that Yuki and Kaname decided to get back together, it would be easier to clean this mess up with the least number of people involved in this.

Rima wanted to snort at that – Takuma really didn't know how passionate Yuki was about it. That annoying optimistic outlook of his isn't dead yet it seems.

Two days after the meeting, Rima was feeling very good about herself. Well, as good as one could be when they know they were about to fight against a man who could crush her as much as look at her. By darkness, Rima would make sure that Yuki won this. She really didn't want to face Kaname's spiteful wrath if she lost.

Nevertheless, she came to Yuki today because today was the day that Yuki would reveal her true reason for all this. Rima had been so excited to learn the secret, but when she had, Rima was shocked into silence.

Rima breathlessly stared at her sad red-eyed queenly friend.

All her dark thoughts about what happen to the lost hunter was true?

Kaname killed Zero Kiryu.

Kaname had actually been the one behind Zero Kiryu's murder.

When she had first met the hunter at Cross Academy all those years ago, she had been somewhat indifferent to him. Kiryu was just a rude if a somewhat entertaining human teen to her back then, but when Yuki and Zero had finally gotten together – she had really envied them. They were the perfect young couple. Yuki was warm-hearted and bright. Zero was cool-headed and gentle. They were so funny when they interacted with each other, and she had secretly wished that she and Senri had been like them. She was so jealous of them back then.

Zero and Yuki – they just clicked so well.

Rima felt a deep pane of intense hurt and horrendous empathy for the woman in front of her. She suddenly understood why Yuki was going through with this. Everything suddenly made so much sense – so much pitying, horrifying, and terrifying sense.

Yuki had unknowingly married and supported the man who arranged the murder of her true love that caused her to lose their baby which had driven her insane for five years.

Rima, for another moment in her life, was lost for words.

The lies. The sheer deception and falsehood of it! The pure evil and the unheard of level of such egoism. _The hurt_. The **pain** at such a realization...

By all that is dark, Rima was going to rip that bastard to shreds in court.

**To be Continued**

* * *

**A/N: **What an intense chapter. Even _I_ feel drained after writing this. ;_; _**Well, thanks for reading and please leave your reactions in a review.**_


	38. Chapter 37 Preparation

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

As Silver played Sarabande in D Minor by Bach on his violin, Kaname closed his eyes and relaxed his body on Silver's white divan by the window. His dark head was on his lover's lap, and Silver played the beloved song lightly.

Numerous thoughts lightly skipped through Kamane's mind. There were still a lot of things that needed to be done and Kaname still had many problems to solve. So many numerous and completely unneeded problems he had, but at least he had finalized one major resolution to his currently chaotic life and various relationships.

The resolution did not really sit well with him, but he had to do it.

If he were to get his wife back, he must allow Yuki to met Silver.

_He had to do it._ There was no other way around it. This was a risk he had to take.

Risk was something that a vampire king like him would have to do from time to time. Therefore, taking risk was something he forced himself to become a true expert at. Even if what he was risking had a terrible price if he lost this high stake bet - such as triggering the return of the wronged Kiryu - Kaname would have to risk it if he wanted Yuki.

And Kaname required Yuki.

But Kaname also deeply desired to keep Silver.

As a result, if he wanted both of them – Silver for now and Yuki for later - he needed to gamble.

It was a very good thing indeed that King Kaname Kuran excelled at risky gambles.

But even if he was risking much and had a slight possibility that he could lose, Kaname did not want to lose the creature that was now beside him playing him a comforting and profound harmony. The mere possibility of him losing this precious person made Kaname highly agitated and uncomfortable.

"_I will always be beside you." _

Kaname intended that Silver, even if Kiryu ever did return, would keep that promise.

No one else could have him.

Silver Night would always be Kaname's.

At that significant mental decision, Kaname's dark eyes snapped opened, and he smoothly raised himself from his comfortable reclining position. He studied the person before him carefully.

He had a suddenly desire to claim his precious person.

Their eyes met. Serene amethyst-gray irises converge against intense dark-brown orbs.

Immediately, Silver stopped what he was doing. He stared at his master curiously. He placed his musical instrument to the side, and as soon as he did that - Master Kaname cupped his face gently. However, there was a dark possessiveness in his dark-brown eyes that Silver had become intimately familiar with. He understood the meaning behind this sudden darkly avid gaze. He had seen it a thousand times before on numerous different faces. He knew it was best to say absolutely nothing and stay completely still.

Kaname's smooth fingers trailed across Silver's red lips._ I may lose this person if I go through with this. _Kaname silently thought to himself. Silver purple-gray eyes slightly closed at his light caresses. Kaname could see his lover carefully examine him underneath sleepy silver eyelashes. He was waiting for Kaname to reveal what he wanted from him. He was waiting to learn the desire he needed to fulfill.

Silver had always asked one question in a variety of different forms whenever Kaname was near him. The question was spoken so many times that it no longer needed to be verbally said.

Underneath, heavy silver eyelashes, Silver glanced at Kaname. _What do you desire my master?_ He wordlessly asked.

Kaname's eyes, unknowingly to him, flashed a possessive crimson hue. _I wish to have you._ He wordlessly answered.

Silver drew closer to him. His acquiescent movements flowed like a quiet river. _As you wish, my master. _He wordlessly obeyed.

Kaname drew Silver's chin up and kissed him. This would not be a light or chaste kiss. This kiss was one of concentrated control, extreme desire, and passionate possession. Silver beautifully yielded his lips to Kaname's possessive touch. Silver closed his eyes entirely, and then he further opened his mouth invitingly. His ruby tongue dared to challenge Kaname's claiming own. His snow-white fingers found themselves into Kaname's button dress shirt, and his nails light clawed against the blue fabric.

Kaname deepened this kiss. He leaned forward and forced Silver to fall backwards onto his white divan. Brusquely, Kaname was on top of him. Caging him. Confining him. Trapping him. Kaname wouldn't allow this person to get away.

Silver lightly gasped as Kaname started to pull open his white yukate. Kaname felt smooth and gradually warming snow-white skin underneath the palm of his searching hand. Kaname's claiming intense kiss moved from Silver's red and now-swollen lips and down the quivering column of his throat. Silver let out a small pleasurable cry as Kaname thought, _I do not want to lose this person. _

Kaname's searching and caressing hands rapidly roamed over his snow-white lover's perfect torso. Kaname's tongue tasted the trembling flesh of his throat, and Silver exclaimed at the abrupt pleasure of it. He quickly arched himself into Kaname's clothed body cage. "_**Kaname**_..." Silver breathlessly whispered. Silver's fingers started to return Kaname's roaming. He threw his head back when he felt his master's fangs lightly nick his pale shoulder.

_I cannot lose this person._ Kaname's mind possessively contemplated.

Kaname felt Silver's long lean legs move up and change their angle around him. His smooth thighs wrapped around Kaname's hips and waist. Kaname was extremely pleased at the movement. Silver seemed to inherently understand Kaname's unspoken lustful intention. Thus, he was bettering his position for what Kaname desperately needed to do at this moment.

One of Silver's hands inched around his neck, and another gripped his master's shoulder. Silver pulled himself up, as his master's greedy hands snaked their way up his naked moonlight thighs. Their lips met a second time in a blistering kiss as Silver's white yukute fell off his shoulders and draped around his elbows and arms.

Kaname grabbed the back of Silver's head and felt long tendrils of silver flow through his fingers. The perfume of sandalwood and roses assaulted his nose with its intoxicating scent.

_I will never lose this person._ Kaname mentally promised to himself. Silver's velvet hands left fire in their wake as his lover popped opened each closed button of his dress shirt. _He will always be mine._ Kaname darkly vowed. His third kiss was a dark promise.

_**Always. **_

Knock. Knock.

Immediately, the two intimates stopped their licentious play. Silver was breathing hard and hot against Kaname's nude shoulder, while Kaname briefly wondered _why_ his Butler was so apt at doing this sort of thing.

Behind the locked door, Butler Rio had the feeling, he was interrupting something he really didn't want to see, but he had to do it. This was important. "My King," Butler Rio began. "You're daughter had unexpectedly come to the King's Palace. She anxiously wants to see you."

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: Preparation **

* * *

**Present **

Kaname was flabbergasted.

How in the world was Juri able to see him? Kaname would have thought Yuki would have prevented it out of spite, but he was completely taken back by this new development.

His beloved daughter, her equally-confused-to-be-there personal servant Mika, and one of her best friends, Fuyumi Kain arrived to at the Kuran Palace Mutiplex. Juri had told Mika and Fuyumi to go to her private palace and without a second thought, Juri had made a beeline to Kaname's private palace.

Fortunately, Butler Rio had intercepted the anxious princess before she had strode into his palace unannounced. Darkness forbid, if Juri had unexpectedly bursted in on them when Silver, and he were having such an...interesting moment.

Kaname loved his daugther very much. But even he knew that she was a rather impulsive and rash creature. That sort of nature had its advantages and disadvantages to Kaname. Its advantages were the Juri was one of the few people in the world that took such great liberty with him. Such liberty he would never allow the majority of the time, and he had killed for lesser offenses, but with Juri, the liberty he gave her came because she did one thing that no one else did.

Juri was the one person in this world that trusted and believed in the inherent goodness of her father, Kaname. No one else truly believed in his inherent goodness and faithfully trusted that he had always had positive intentions. Such a feeling and act were extremely precious to Kaname. To be trusted in...to be believed in...such a thing was rare. People did not trust Kaname, and in a way it wasn't in their best interest to do so. The majority of his people feared, respected, honored, envied, and coveted him – but trust? No. Kaname did not base his rulership on something as fragile and breakable as 'trust'. Kaname's power was based on the firm foundation of immediate respect and tangible fear.

However, Juri's core nature did have its many major drawbacks. While she could faithfully trust in his supposed goodness, she would never be able to fully understand or accept his true nature.

Yuki understood him.

Juri could trust him.

Silver accepted him.

Such precious obsessions those three were to Kaname.

Father and daughter were in his private palace meeting room. "Juri." He said as he stared at his tendered-eye daughter. "How are you here?" He voice was tense. He didn't know what to think. The one who understood him had betrayed him, thus couldn't the one who trusted him do the same?

Juri looked at him for a brief moment.

Then she rushed forwarded to him and warped her lithe pale arms around him. She tightly squeezed.

There was an unexpected strength behind it. Juri was a pureblood after all.

Slightly breathless and still completely shocked, Kaname said, "Juri! What is the matter?"

Juri hugged him even tighter. She buried her small face into his chest. "It is okay, papa! I know you didn't do anything wrong!" She whispered against his chest. "Mother is completely out of line with this! So, don't be sad, okay!"

_Don't be sad. _

Kaname could merely look at his daughter.

_Don't be sad. _

Where did he hear that line before? And where did he see that familiar and firm trusting gaze of hers before?

Kaname was once again speechless. Juri had such a pure undying faith and belief in him. She looked at him with such a firm trust.

Kaname wouldn't defraud such trust again.

"Don't worry about me, Juri." Kaname gently patted his beloved daughter's long dark-brown hair as he returned her innocent embrace. "I won't be sad."

* * *

**A Few Hours Later... **

The Queen's Dark Hand, Yoshiro Yamamoto, watched at the dazed lawyer woman walked out of his dark lady's office. The lawyer woman looked ash-faced and listlessly. He bowed his covered head to her, but it seemed she didn't notice it.

_Hmph. Silly woman._ He thought to himself. Yoshiro could have killed her six different times in six different ways because she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings.

But he then turned his attention back to his lovely dark lady queen.

Despite the fact that his thick black glasses prevented anyone from seeing his eyes, Yoshiro's unknown irises studied his beloved Queen intensely.

_Such a lovely woman._ Yoshiro thought to himself as he watched her look over her various business papers.

He dearly wished he could see her kill again. It's been far too long.

"My lovely dark queen," Yoshiro's queer dark voice vibrated. "I've found the information that you have requested."

Like usual, his Queen was never shocked or surprised at his abrupt appearances. She always seemed to know he was there, even when others couldn't sense his presence. Yoshiro briefly wondered if it was because she was a pureblood, but then he dismissed it.

Pure-blood, smear-blood. He had smeared so much pureblood blood. Therefore, that could not be the case.

Perhaps it was because they were the same?

But now, his beloved dark lady was trying not to be the same as he now.

Yoshiro was sad at this.

His dark queen looked at him with narrow dark-brown eyes. "You've found the man called Kenichi Daisuki?"

"Yes, my lovely dark lady queen." Yoshiro lightly smiled. "But he is in a place I cannot reach."

His queen blinked. _Yes._ Yoshiro was sad at this. So terribly sad he couldn't fulfill her dark wish perfectly. Something about her current dark wish made him edgy, so he was happy. It whispered of coming bloodletting. "Where is he?" She quietly asked.

"He is in a private Korean Prison - Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island." Yoshiro answered. "One can get in such a place, but one cannot leave it."

His Queen's dark-brown eyes blazed.

_Ah._ Yoshiro thought. _So pretty. So very pretty._

Her eyes were like a consuming malevolent blaze that ripped across a blood-red night sky.

_So pretty._ He did not see such a look in her for a very, very, very long time.

* * *

**The Next Night **

"So, Rima said that Yuki refused to meet with me until the First Court Session?" King Kaname asked expressionlessly. They were in his private office, but work was left forgotten as the two men spoke with each other. Kaname's pale hands were held lightly together. His fingers danced against each other as he watched the blond man before him.

"Yes, Kaname-sama." The King's Right Arm, Takuma Ichijo, answered calmly. "Rima said that Yuki-dono did not want to see you until then." Internally, Takuma felt like crying – why did women have to be so stubborn and difficult – but externally, Takuma was finally able to keep his calm.

While the King's anger wasn't at all visible, Takuma knew that it was just an act. He wasn't about to be the trigger of Kamane's wrath again.

Still, Takuma had one important question to ask his King. He had to try at least one time after all.

"Kaname-sama," Takuma respectively started, "Is there anything I should know about this? Like the reason why this is occurring?" His green eyes were imploring. Takuma hoped that Kaname would reveal the key reason why Yuki was doing this. Yuki wouln't have done this if it wasn't necessary. While Takuma did consider his king a friend, he wasn't stupid as to Kaname's dark nature. Despite this, Takuma would have to support his King regardless.

He owed it to him and…this path would keep his five children safe.

Nevertheless, as Kaname's legal representative, he was going in blind as it were. The First Divorce Session between Yuki and Kaname would begin in less than three nights. Takuma had no idea what was going to happen, but he was going to have to do his very best.

The two old friends considered each other for a moment.

Takuma noticed that Kaname seemed unusually at ease in this situation. Too at ease, really. What could possibly be the cause of it? Kaname should have been livid at the news, but he was strangely calm. Why? Had Kaname finally decided on something critical? Takuma didn't know if it was a good thing or not.

"There is." Kaname said. "But I have found a way to handle that. You are dismissed."

Takuma stared. There is a reason? And he wasn't going to tell him? What in the world?

Kaname's dark-brown eyes landed on his computer screen.

So, Kaname wasn't going to inform him of it. Takuma sighed. This did not bore well. But Takuma got up from his chair and quickly left the room.

* * *

For a few moments, Kaname's mind was absolutely vacant.

Then he found his first brain wave.

So...he could only meet his wife in court, could he?

The path for his solution to this mess was now selected.

"Oh, Yuki." Kaname said to himself in the lonely private office. "I will make you _suffer_ for this."

He would have given her another chance, if she had agreed to meet with him before this entire farce was completed. He really would have done it. But now that she was emboldened by this entire fool's act, he would show no mercy or kindness.

Yuki will not leave this meeting unscathed.

Kaname had decided he would enact the worst of his strategies against her.

The absolute worst.

Yuki would obviously inform the world of his actions in relation to Kiryu's supposed death. Perhaps she thought that would greatly help her in her divorce against him?

So foolish.

Kaname had decided that he would use his nastiest of countermeasures against her.

Kaname did not worry about being despised by the world at large, or by his ungrateful subjects, or by his fragile inner circle. To have a petty concern for public and personal opinion wasn't worthy of the Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire King to have.

Let them hate – as long as they feared him.

The plan that Kaname had created was so wretched, so cruel, and very, very base. He had no doubt that his inner circle would be horrified at his intended method, but Kaname had decided that he would use these best of weapons against Yuki in this matter.

She wanted to play hard ball.

So, he would play hard ball.

Kaname smiled. He had his solution. He was going to take great pleasure in ending this mutiny of Yuki's in the most viciously way he possibly could.

* * *

Silver Night wanted to damn this constant change of pace.

"And then she has the sheer nerve to divorce papa!" Princess Juri Kuran loudly finished. One of her hands was one her delicate hip, while another was raised high in the air.

Silver Night blankly stared at the young girl who had finally finished her rant against her mother.

Didn't something like what had happened yesterday occur before? While Silver rarely let his body get the best of him, when his master stopped their carnal dance, Silver had been severely displeased by it in more ways than one.

Honestly, where did children learn how to be such _mean_ interruptions?

He hadn't expected his master to come back to his room as it was early morning, and so he went back to sleep. He had a nice dreamless day rest and when he had gotten up, he felt highly refreshed.

When he had awoken, he readied himself as he usually did, but he decided to spend some time out of his room. Somehow, he found himself in the library reading a book on the ancient city of Babylon. He had been very engaged in his pastime, but then Juri came and turned his supposed peaceful night on its head.

Silver reframed from twitching his eyes. While he had not expected this, she had done him a most blessed favor.

Juri gave him key clues about his master's situation with his wife.

One year ago, his master's wife had been greatly injured by an assassination attempt that was really meant for his master. His master dutifully healed his wife by giving her his blood. However, when she had woken from her healing sleep, his master's wife had tried to kill him.

Juri was of the opinion that the assassination attempt on her mother was what messed her up. Juri theorized that her mother had some type of weird mental problem that kept her from telling family and foe apart. That could only be the explanation! Silver was highly skeptical about such a theory, but he kept that opinion to himself.

After the vicious fight against her husband, his master's wife had left the palace complex and move to a far away location. She had refused all contact with her husband for a year, despite the many messages, pleadings, and compromises that his master sent her during that time.

Then Juri explained that her mother had decided to go to the Annual Winter Ball unexpectedly. So, Juri and Haruka thought their parents' relationship was starting to repair itself. They were sorely mistaken. Father and mother were split further apart because of it and now her mother was going to worsen their split with a divorce.

Juri was completely livid. It was obvious that she blamed her mother and was very furious at her at this moment.

Nevertheless, the information that Silver had gained in this odd conversation was most intriguing.

Silver remembered that blood-drenched night of the Annual Winter Ball. Silver was viciously assaulted by his very enraged and intoxicated master. He had nearly been killed because of his master's unleashed fury at his wife whom his master had misaimed at Silver.

Silver remembered his master's chilling accusing words.

_"I'm the second choice."_

_"How could I be the second choice? I took care of her!"_

_"How could you be the first choice? How? A cursed vampire hunter. A lowly Level D. A fool and a wretch."_

_"Now you are nothing more than a whore. A used and willing whore is what you are, and I'm the second choice? A king the second choice?" _

Something inside Silver twisted alive.

His master said some important things that night as well. Those accusing words provided him a vital clue about his true self.

Silver's mind and thoughts started to race. He nearly forgot about that!

His true self also spoke back then.

_I can't breathe, you insane bloodsucking traitorous bastard._

_When have vampires even needed a reason to hurt an innocent person?_

Silver's heart started to beat faster. His master said an important name. He had said the name of that vampire hunter that his wife seemed to prefer. Suddenly, all of Silver's pulses were drumming heavily in his ears and humming in his body. That name had triggered one of the sharpest memories he had of his unknown past… but his true self had stolen the knowledge of that name from him. Like he always did whenever Silver had gotten _so_ close.

Silver's forehead started to throb. He closed his gray-purple eyes and felt a sudden terrible headache overtake him. But his thoughts were wildly spinning.

His heart raced even faster. _Why?_ Why had his true self done that? Why had he? Silver's breathing was becoming sharp and painful. There was an intense tightness in his chest. It squeezed his heart. Something in his soul was pulling, _pulling_, **pulling**, and Silver was losing, _losing_, **losing**, and he _couldn't_ hold on. Couldn't hold on to something that he should be holding on to and -

"Silver!" Juri cried in utter surprise. "What's wrong?"

Suddenly, everything stopped.

The pounding pulses. The forming headache. The racing heart beat. The sharp breathing. All of it stopped.

Juri's voice stopped it.

Silver opened his eyes and stared at this child.

_Protect her._ His true self suddenly repeated again. And Silver felt his true self withdraw from the world of reality once again.

Silver felt cold.

His true self was about to take away more of his memories of that past event.

Why?

But Silver bitterly knew the answer.

Apparently, he had been getting too close to his key.

Immediately, Silver was overcome with an intense wave of sadness and despair. He felt so…**_empty_**. He felt so very, very empty and lost and there was a bitter pain in his heart.

However, he needed to regain himself.

Silver lightly smiled at Juri and gently patted her head. "I'm okay, my dear." She still looked at him with tender concern, so he slightly ran his long smooth fingers through tiny bites of her freed dark-brown hair pieces. "I'm sure that everything will work out with your parents, princess." Silver highly doubted it, but it was the comforting lie the child wanted to hear. Perhaps Silver was to protect her from reality?

Then without the slightest bit of warning, another person came into the room. Juri had smiled brightly at the figure, but Silver's instincts were screaming.

His master was giving him a most peculiar dark look.

And Silver couldn't understand it.

As a result, Silver was very unsettled.

His master looked at him and then at his daughter. Something about the look really disturbed Silver. His master seemed...mad? Shocked? Silver wasn't sure but that look...that look... frightened him. He was frightened. He was actually truly frightened by that man. Silver thought that he had figured this man out already, but apparently that was not the case.

Silver was disconcerted. His plans felt like they were falling apart.

"How is it that you both know each other?" Master Kaname darkly asked.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N**: I feel like this story is becoming some weird soap opera. **XD** Anyway, I have a poll posted on my profile! It's a "what time should I update" poll. I've been reflecting that my posting it somewhat sporadic, so I want a more consistent time pace. Nevertheless, I would like some feedback as to when the majority of my precious readers read this tale! It will help me choose a good time for most! **Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a lovely review**! _Also, don't forget to check out the poll on my profile! _**:D**


	39. Chapter 38 Standpoint

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

Kaname started at the two inhabitants in the room. His daughter and his lover were quite close. Silver was gently petting her hair, and Juri looked up at him with large concern eyes.

_When exactly did those two become so close?_ Kaname's mind burned. Juri had an unsettling resemblance to Yuki and if Silver saw her wouldn't that be an unnecessary possible trigger of Kiryu's potential return?

"How is it that you both know each other?" Kaname darkly asked.

Silver looked at him in utter confusion, but Juri broke out into a large teethe smile.

"Papa!" Juri exclaimed happily. "I met Silver after you left us that last time we were here!" Juri honestly explained. _Poor papa. He must really be under a lot of stress if he didn't even know that! _Juri thought to herself, but then she frowned at him. "But Papa, if you are going to have a bodyguard, shouldn't he always be beside you? You left without him that time! That's not good!"

It was obvious to the young Juri that her papa got a bodyguard in light of what happened to her mother. But perhaps his manly ego was preventing him from trusting Silver's skills? Men! They should just be honest about their limitations!

Kaname stared at his bright but sometimes-not-so-bright daughter. "_Bodyguard_?" Where in the world did Juri get that crazy yet strangely relieving assumption about his relationship with the silver-haired man? He looked at Silver.

But Silver looked equally confused. He was rapidly blinking at her as well.

"Yeah!" Juri happily chirped. "Haruka and I met him in the garden when you left the palace so suddenly that last time we visited."

There was a moment of silence.

Kaname wondered if he was getting perhaps a bit too cagey. Not everything was an evil scheme against him. Perhaps he was too on edge of late? Crafting nasty manipulations and cruel plots did tend to bring the worst of suspicions out of him.

Silver wondered how exactly Haruka's quickly spoken lie was actually believed by Juri. But nonetheless, he was extremely thankful for it, because Juri's cluelessness seemed to have saved them from a very...interesting...situation.

Juri wondered why her papa and future fiancée were giving her the strangest of looks.

_Well, let me nip this situation in the bud, shall I? _Silver distantly thought.

While the promise of pleasure had the ability to always calmed an intense situation, there was one other thing that could relax a tense circumstance. Silver quickly stepped towards his master.

"You may have probably saved me from an unusual fate, my king." Silver lightly smiled at him. "If you had not come now, later you would have seen a sight that would have left you speechless." Silver drawled.

Despite Kaname's mental confusion of the current situation, his curiosity sharpened at Silver's oddly chosen words. "What sight could that have been?"

Silver gave Juri a slightly teasing look. "I believe your daughter was considering putting my hair into two pigtails." Silver calmly explained.

Kaname resumed his stare at him. Without realizing it, his mind conjured up an image of his masculine lover with two long silver pigtails decorating his head and near the side of his ears.

Kaname slowly blinked his dark-brown eyes at his created mental image.

It was ridiculous.

The image was so ridiculous that...Kaname's lips twitched.

"Hey! I was not!" Juri pouted.

Silver sighed. "Princess, I have noticed the predatory way you've been eying my hair as late."

Juri's face burned a bright-red. _How could Silver have caught her?_ Her fingers had been itching to touch and braid his hair. After all, who wouldn't? It was so shiny and long and pretty!

Still, she wanted to defend herself! "All I'm going to say that if you weren't a bodyguard, you could be a top male model!" Juri put her nose in the air. "When I start my fashion line, I'm going to get you to be my model for my men's line!"

The two grown men simply gawked at the young teen girl. They both broke into a light laughter.

The other thing that could relax a tense circumstance was humor.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: Standpoint **

* * *

**Present**

Sosono looked at her gathered allies. Her long black hair was arranged in a style that was strongly influenced by the Korean tradition of the gisaeng women.

This nine member rebel force was the only hope for Vampire Korean Independence. The Korean Rebel Force was composed of three major pureblood clans. These pureblood vampire clans were Kim, Han, and Song.

The Pureblood Clan of Kim was the clan that had found her on that accursed island. The Head of the Kim Clan was Wan Hoo Kim. She was a frosty woman whose black eyes could freeze the cruelest of souls. She had two sons, Min Chan Kim and Byung Gi Kim. Min Chan Kim took after his mother personality wise and was the Chief Warden of Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island. However, despite being the eldest son, Byung Gi Kim had become extremely distant to his immediate family members. It was not without cause. His mother viewed Byung Gi at best as a coward and at worst as a traitor. How could a son of hers work for the tyrant who wrongly ruled over their people?

The Pureblood Clan of Han was an extremely large clan – for purebloods anyway. The majority of Han members willingly served the Japanese tyrant. However, some of its members were secretly unsatisfied with Kuran Rule. Two brothers, Soo Bin Han and Im Dae Han, were the leaders of the members of the Han Clan that wanted Korean Vampire Independence.

The Japanese Purebloods had their Kuran Line, the Chinese Purebloods had their Wang Line, but the Korean Purebloods had the Song Line. The Pureblood Clan of Song was the noblest and oldest of the Korean Pureblood families. But this family was only composed of three members: Mother - Hye Jin Song, Father – Joon Ho Song, and Son – Gook Song. After their rebellion had succeeded, the Song family would become the Royal House of Vampire Korea.

Or so it was assumed.

Sosono would be the one to rule in the end. However, these pawns did not need to know that.

Sosono gave her allies a brilliant smile. "Our great enemy has a severe personal dilemma. We can use this to our advantage and further diminish the illusion of his power." Her crimson eyes looked at the gathered nine members. "Thus, by kidnapping a royal member it would further damage his reputation."

The frosty Wan Hoo smirked. "This kidnapping idea is a good one. We can split the royal family even further apart because of it." She looked at Sosono and smiled. What perfect luck she had to gain such a valuable ancient servant! When she had found Sosono all those years ago, her clan was but a forsaken tribe, but with Sosono's blood and ancient insight, they had quickly become one of the most powerful strengths in the Korean Court. "It's best that we do this now. After all, when the enemy is divided, that's the best time to strike." Wan Hoo added.

But Joon Ho Song disagreed with his fellow rebels. "Won't kidnapping a child bring wife and husband together?" He pointed out.

Sosono pressed her lips together. "That is a possibility. Yes." But she looked at him blackly. He would dare to rebuke her plans? "However, the divorce split between them will cause them not to work together as well as they could. This is the best time to do this. They will be forever connected through their children. However, this split between them will cause great division among their forces. The kidnapping will create an even further division."

Wan Hoo's son, Governor Byung Gi Kim sighed. His stupid family! Did they not realize who they were dealing with? The only reason why he was here was because he knew he couldn't be entirely ignorant of their designs. If they were exposed, he would not be spared, and Byung Gi was nothing if not pragmatic about his uncertain position in this dark world. "The Royal House is comprised of four members: King Kaname Kuran, Queen Yuki Kuran, Prince Haruka Kuran, and Princess Juri Kuran." He sighed. He would have to go along with this plot. "Who should we take?" He asked the rebel force in general. "The Heir Prince or the Royal Princess?"

The young Gook Song decided to come into the discussion."Taking the princess has its advantages. After his wife, the King highly values his ties to his daughter. Striking at an emotional tie may make him unreasonable in his decisions and prone to making a mistake." Gook Song had another reason to suggest this. He liked the Japanese Princess. If he could get her to be his wife, whether by force or by dubious consent, his future position as a worldwide ruler would be even greater ensured.

Soon Bin Han shrugged his shoulders."The greatest of adversaries will be the King and Queen obviously." He looked at his brother then at Sosono. "However, while the King prefers his daughter, the Queen cares for both children."

Im Dae Han somewhat agreed with his brother. "Rumor has it that she treats the daughter a bit more kindly than the son. Therefore, perhaps taking the daughter would end up causing both camps to unite?"

The room went silent in thought.

Sosono frowned. "So…should we take the son?" She suggested.

The Warden of Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island, Min Chan Kim, decided to speak at this meeting for the first time. "Taking the son has its advantages. Not only will it strike both the royal house but also the kingdom." He coldly smiled at all the members in the room. "Taking the Heir Prince would be extremely beneficial to us. After all, as the heir to the throne, we cannot only threaten the tyrant's king blood relationship but the future stability of his precious kingdom."

The young Goog Song frowned at Min Chan. "I've heard rumors that the King and Prince aren't close." He wanted the princess taken! Not that blasted prince! "It is widely whispered that the King prefers the princess. Taking the prince may not be to our benefit."

"Why don't we just take both?" The third woman of the rebellion, Hye Jin Song, said. She had decided that now would be the time to inject her recommended. If she didn't, the meeting would probably erupt into a massive argument, and nothing would be done.

But all inhabitants of the room stared at her.

"Excuse me?" Byung Gi Kim asked speechless.

The mild Hye Jun Song shook her head from side to side."If we take both, we can gain more. One child can be used for the establishment of our independent kingdom, and the other can be used as a forever hostage against the tyrant. Having a hostage will prevent the Tyrant House from retracting on our demands when they submit to us."

"Both." Sosono was amused. "Both." She looked at her young pawns. "Yes. Let us find a way to take both."

* * *

As Takuma made his way through the home he had not seen in years, he cynically reflected on his life.

There was a still a deep pang in his heart.

Takuma truly still missed his beloved late wife. He would do anything to have her by his side right now.

Takuma Ichjio was a strange vampire. He was a noble. He was the King's Right Arm. He was a very powerful figure in the vampire world. He was well-respected, if not well-liked. He had five wonderful children.

However, Takuma lost the two great loves of his life.

So he considered himself a _very_ insignificant man.

His first love was Sara Shirabuki. However, his _true love_ was Sayori Wakaba. Both women were so different, but they both commanded the same intensity of his love.

Sayori Wakaba got his attention at their first conversation. She accepted him as he was. Takuma was a cheery person and something of a particular if annoying light bulb to the majority of his kind. Even his grandfather was slight annoyed at his natural personality and his friends sometimes found him too bright to deal with sometimes.

One night, Takuma had left his night-time classes earlier than he generally did. He'd been subjected to too many under-the-hand insults of 'weird un-vampire Takuma who smiles like a human'. He just got so flustered and decided to take a quiet walk around the forest that was within Cross Academy.

Once by himself, he had loudly complained in the forest air, "I'm not an idiot just because I like to smile!"

And immediately he heard a small 'Epp!' sound.

Takuma turned around and stared at the rapidly blinking hazel eyes of Sayori Wakaba. She tightly gripped her mini-telescope, but she had dropped the small astronomy book she was holding.

Takuma stared at her. He hadn't even noticed her presence there! What kind of vampire was he anyway?

But without missing a beat, after her initial surprise, Sayori bent down to pick up her dropped book. In a calm firm voice, she said. "You might not be an idiot, Takuma-sempai, but can you not shout out so suddenly in the middle of the night?"

Takuma felt his face go extremely red.

"Anyway, don't let the words of others get you down." Sayori calmly said. "You are Takuma-senpai, so just be Takuma-senpai." Once she gathered her things, she nodded her head towards him. "Also, please don't tell Yuki-chan I was out when I shouldn't be. I really wanted to see the stars. This book was right, they are quite beautiful tonight." Her hazel eyes glowed at him with amusement, but soon she promptly left him alone.

Takuma was completely amazed at the brief exchange. He knew that Sayori was a friend of Yuki, but he never really interacted with her before that particular moment. But there was a warm feeling in his chest due to her words. Sayori didn't say that he was 'stupid' or 'weird' or 'odd'. He was just himself - Takuma.

Afterwards, he had met, loved, and lost Sara Shirabuki. Sara was like a commanding yet graceful, refined yet sadistic, pitiful yet always-impatient woman. Takuma had felt a need to protect her and care for her. He really loved her, but in a way he was desperately trying to save her from herself. When she shattered into a million pieces, Takuma felt a part of him die. Then he had to deal with Rido Kuran's unexpected come back and life was even harder.

However, after everything settled down, another bomb was dropped onto Takuma's life. (Yet isn't that always the case?) But this time, it was a good bomb.

Zero and Yuki had decided to marry.

It changed so much for the good.

When Takuma believed Kiryu to just be a human, he still found the teen to be somewhat _scary_. Zero Kiryu's clear amethyst gaze was very unnerving, especially to a cheery person like Takuma. The Night Class was always annoyed when Kiryu leveled his characteristic dark and mistrustful gaze. While no vampire would dare admit that they were..._scared_ by a human, Kiryu's lavender eyes could freeze a vampire in their footsteps. Plus, his cold hunter persona was always evident whenever he interacted with vampires.

But when Yuki and Zero had decided to get married all of that changed.

Of all the noble vampires, Takuma had been the most supportive of the couples' wedding and one of the first few male vampires that tried to strike up a friendship with the scary-eyed ex-human vampire hunter. Their budding friendship had started in the strangest of ways.

At the engagement party of the two, Zero looked at him emotionlessly and had announced to all vampires present. "You aren't as annoying as most vampires, Takuma." Takuma had stared at him in complete surprise, and then he choked on his silver fork. Zero had blinked and immediately started to pat him on the back. "Don't die over something like that." He then looked at the awakening Senri. "Go get this vampire some tea."

Yeah. Male friendships are like that.

But after that, Zero had somehow transformed into being the lovable ice-cube of the night class. Nevertheless, the wedding between Zero and Yuki reintroduced him to Sayori Wabaka.

During the brief months leading up to the wedding of Zero and Yuki, Takuma had started a mild connection to Sayori Wabaka. As she was still Yuki's best friend, she was going to be the maid of honor at her wedding, so she had to interact with vampires on a daily basis. And she was so different from his Sara Shirabuki.

Sayori Wabaka was steady, calm, and observant. She did not fear being in the presence of vampires, even when they hungered for her blood. When Yuki was revealed to be a Pureblood, Sayori had simply shrugged her small shoulders. ("That's interesting and I'm human." She had said. "Now, where is the nearest bookstore?")

Soon, their relationship went from associates, to friends, and then Takuma woke up one night and discovered that the pain of Sara's death wasn't so deep anymore.

After this self-discovery, he kept it in for the longest time he could.

He told her about his feelings for her after about...three days.

Out of the blue one evening, Takuma couldn't hold his budding feelings anymore. "I like you, Sayori." Takuma was the first to say it. Sayori, Takuma, and Hanabusa were all in the school library studying for their various final exams when he said it.

Hanabusa Aido started to chock on his tongue. But Sayori stopped what she was reading and stared at him in silence.

Hanabusa was still struggling to gain his breathing, but Takuma ignored his fellow blond. "I don't have much, but I want to give you my love, Sayori." Takuma said seriously. And it was true. Sara had pretty much _ruined_ the Ichijo fortune. His parents were struggling to recreate it.

But Sayori continued to stare at him. After a while, she looked at him seriously. "That's not enough, Takuma."

Now it was Takuma's turn to stare at her. **Wow**. He was shot down so _quickly_.

But Sayori's lips form a small but extremely warm smile. "I also demand part of your ambition, half of your troubles, two-thirds of your worries, and all of your respect."

And after a very long time, Takuma felt warm.

Their relationship developed so quickly that Takuma wondered why he had waited that long three-day time period. Then the tragedy of Zero's murder occurred and everyone felt a deep loss. For nearly four months they all searched for the hunter but when they found that bloody cave everyone lost hope.

Yuki fell into a deep coma and Sayori regularly visited her. Takuma had expressed his disapproval of it. What if Yuki got up and not realizing who Sayori was tried to take her blood? Injured vampires aren't the most balanced of creatures and Yuki's killer instincts would push her to feed on the nearest source available to her. Even if Sayori was her dear friend that only went so far.

But Sayori had simply rolled her eyes. "Takuma," Sayori said calmly. "I am a human woman and I have no intention of not being the human woman that I am. I'm going to visit my friend."

Really, why was Takuma attracted to women who never listened to what he said?

However, after mourning the loss of such a good person that Zero was, Takuma had decided that he wouldn't lose Sayori. So, he asked her to marry him and she had said yes.

But Kaname, of all people, was completely _against_ it. "Takuma, you are a noble vampire. I expected you to be more responsible. Don't make choices that will lead to your utter ruin."

"But I love her Kaname-sama." He begged.

Yet Kaname still looked at him coldly. "That supposed love of yours will devastate you. Do not do it."

But in a mild act of stubbornness, Takuma had completely ignored his advice and married her anyway. He lost his Sara. He would not lose his Sayori.

Kaname had been extremely furious when he found out about it. He had summoned his inner circle and Sayori together and angrily said he would only allow this if the woman agreed to become an ex-human for Takuma's sakes.

All the vampires present were in a state of limbo at that moment.

And then Sayori had looked at the most powerful figure in the Far Eastern Vampire Realm and calmly said, "I'm a human." She looked him in the eye. "I was born human, I lived as a human, and I will die a human."

Takuma had felt _his_ life flash before his eyes. Never mind Sayori's! The entire room had frozen in horror. They all thought Sayori was about to be killed!

But Kaname had been taken aback by Sayori's calm bravado. He had stared at her for one listless moment and then told all of them to leave the room. But before leaving, Kaname had given him a dark stare. "You have failed me as a vampire, Takuma." And with that, their relationship became more distant.

And as Takuma and Sayori lived their lives together. Takuma soon understood what his pureblood leader was trying to do.

His beloved heart, his dear wife, the other half of his soul was aging. Aging so rapidly that Takuma suddenly comprehended that she would die _way_ before he ever _could_.

"Perhaps, you _should_ become an ex-human, Sayori." He told his forty-year old wife. "Think of the children. Think of me." He pleaded to her once.

Yet Sayori was unmoved. "All people die, Takuma. Death is the universal experience. I will not have my children fear something so common." She gave him a kind and loving gaze. "If they see their mother fleeing from Death's hand, how will they be able to face it when death finally comes for them? I would rather be an example of how to die with dignity, then a coward that runs away from something so common."

And Takuma _knew_ his wife. When she said something, she said it with all her heart.

When Sayori was finally on her death bed, Takuma _never_ left her side. They had many conversations, and he held her wrinkly age-spot hand with a gentleness that was in opposition to the storm of pain in his heart.

Yet on her death-bed, Sayori looked at him with her usual firm but gentle gaze. "Takuma, do not be afraid." She whispered softly.

Those were the last words she told him before she closed her big hazel eyes.

And Kaname's prophecy was fulfilled.

Takuma was ruined.

It took much effort from his family and friends to get him back together. When Senri Shiki became a more intimate part of his life, Takuma had used him to dull the pain. For a moment, it had worked. Senri was a beloved friend, but just like when he suddenly realized his love for Sayori, he had suddenly realized that he was using his dear friend for his own selfish purposes.

Takuma had tried to justified it. He even said that time would make him love Senri like he'd loved Sayori or even Sara, but the more time he spent with Senri, the more he realized that he was just using the man. Takuma broke it off with Senri, because it wasn't right for him to do that.

Senri had been completely crushed by it but at that moment Takuma had to think for himself first. Leading Senri further on would have been crueler and Takuma had to come to grips with Sayori's death the right way. So, he left Japan and he had gone off on a journey of re-self-discovery for the past few years.

Yet now, another tragedy was occurring. Kaname and Yuki were divorcing. Despite the fact that Kaname had been against Takuma's and Sayori's relationship, he had eventually allowed it and even protected them from the more vicious of his opponents. Kaname had wordlessly defended Takuma and his unusual family in the court.

But Takuma had to pay the price for it.

He could never betray Kaname again.

_I may have betrayed Kaname as a vampire, but this time I'll make sure that I won't betray him as a friend._ Takuma thought to himself.

But for some strange reason, Takuma felt that he might have to.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** And so the story marches on even further! Anyway, the results for my poll for my future up-date time so for are 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 6:00 PM American/LA/PST/-7 GMT. This poll will be up for the next two chapters, so you still have time to vote my precious readers! Honestly, I feel somewhat bad, but still _very_ honored. Some of you guys are actually losing precious sleep over this story. XD Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a wonderful short or long review! :)


	40. Chapter 39 Preliminaries

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

The Japanese-American Vampire Ambassador stared at the sleeping North American Vampire King. _Really?_ William Watanabe thought to himself. _Robert is actually sleeping on the job? _

Honestly, although they were close friends, Ambassador Watanabe wondered how exactly this man had gotten such a position sometimes. By darkness, the American King was a good actor. The image he projected to the world, and his people was one of a well-spoken, firm, astute, caring, and commanding leader. But in private, the man was something like the Joker out of those Batman movies. He was cynical, cruel, rude, but strangely very funny on a personal basis. However, because of that odd paradoxical personality, Watanabe knew this cowboy-hat wearing man was a very difficult person to get along with.

But to sleep on the throne? _Really?_ Watanabe could only stare. Even if no one was actually here, that was not something he should be doing! King Edwards really needed to take the honor of his position more seriously.

Watanabe coughed.

Edwards didn't move.

Watanabe coughed again.

Edwards's eyebrow twitched.

_Oh, so he was actually awake was he? _

Watanabe coughed a third time.

King Edwards opened his green eyes sharply and stared at the person before him. Then he loudly yawned. "I don't care what this next problem is!" He blandly said. "Just blame it on the Canadians and everything will be fine!" The American King said as he rubbed his eyes.

Watanabe stared.

_Blame the Canadians? _

"What?" King Edwards noticed his Asian-American's friend speechless look. He suddenly decided to defend himself. "That is why Canada exists! It is to take the blame for all of America's poor woes!"

William Watanabe wanted to thump his powerful friend. "It's not that!" He hotly said. "It's about the Vaian Trade Agreement you've been talking about!" King Edwards blinked and then straighten out his lazing position on his red, white, and blue throne. Watanabe wanted to roll his eyes, but he decided to continue with what he was saying. "I don't think that trade agreement you wanted to re-work with the Far Eastern Vampire King in regard to Vaian trading is going to be possible."

"Eh?" King Edwards asked suddenly very wide awake. "Why not?"

"He's getting a divorce." The Ambassador listlessly said. "Now isn't the greatest of time for something like that."

"Why?" King Edwards stared at him for a long moment. "Did he come out the closet or something?"

"Robert, be serious for once!" William hissed.

"Yeah, yeah. It was just a joke, sheesh." The American King said. "But I still don't see why that is a problem to us." He shrugged his big shoulders. "I just want more say in the Vaian industry. Who really freaking cares about that icy prick's personal drama?"

Really, why was King Edwards so different to his public persona? William tried to explained. "It's the Far Eastern Queen who was in command of the Royal House Treasury. She owns 73% of the Vaian Market. If Vaian is what we want, then we should speak to the Queen on this matter and not the King."

There was a brief moment of silence as the information sunk into King Edwards's head.

A frown formed on the American King's lips. "No." Suddenly, King Edwards became very serious. "That wouldn't look too right. Taking to the Queen will make it seem like the North American Realm is aggravating the Far Eastern Realm's internal conflict." He looked lazily at his friend. "But I do want you to go over there and tell me the situation, the players, and all the possible connections."

William stared. "What?" He was confused. First, he said no and then go?

"I want you to get some tasty tidbits to feed the American dragon. It _is_ getting _quite_ _hungry_ _again."_ The North American Vampire King Robert Edwards darkly smirked.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: Preliminaries **

* * *

**Present**

Yuki was furious.

And torn.

The man who had killed her beloved Zero was still alive.

Her dark wishes exploded alive inside her.

Yuki wanted to rip his flesh, tear his bones, and use his blood to wash her hands. Kenichi Daisuki. The mere name sent her on a downward swirl that confused her and blacken her heart. Kenichi Daisuki. Forever she will remember that vile name. That evil monster used her. Used her at her most desperate state, and she hadn't even seen it. She was such an idiot. Kenichi Daisuki. He had known of Zero's location because it was he that had kidnapped her love on their wedding day. It was him! Kaname paid him off to do it. It had all been lies. Everything was a lie. Her entire life was a joke. A sick, cruel, and crazy joke. She had given him her blood in the desperate hope that she would finally find her Zero. But in the end it was a fool's decision. Zero would have probably been long since dead when that vile Kenichi had shown himself to her.

Yuki's still-dying heart was ripping inside her. She was an idiot. A completely utterly stupid idiot. By darkness, she prayed that Zero would forever her of all her sins against him when she finally met him in death. She gave the man who had actually killed him some of her precious blood. And she had married the man who had arranged for his cruel murder.

She was a fool. A weak and stupid fool.

But she needed that monster known as Kenichi Daisuki. She needed the man who killed her rightful husband. Why? Because that man was the only one who could testify against the real plotter and real murderer of everything - Kaname Kuran.

And it burned her empty soul to admit it. _And it hurt._

Kaname may not have held the knife that finally took Zero's precious light, but he was the one that placed the knife there. If Kaname hadn't arranged Zero's kidnapping and murder, it wouldn't have happened. _End of Story._ Kaname might as well have held the knife himself.

So, in order to get the mastermind of that wretched plot, she would need the testimony of one of his lackeys. She wanted to use Kenichi as a witness against her soon-to-be ex-husband.

Nevertheless, she would not be able to use Kenichi's testimony now. And her plans for divorce were going to be that much harder because of it. Why couldn't have Yoshiro have come to her sooner? If he had, then perhaps they could have found a way to get the man. But she had no time now, and Kenichi was trapped in Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island (SSVPI). It was a wretched place that anyone who was forced to go there would never come back out again. The death rate at SSVPI was 97%. Even if Kenichi was alive - and that was pie in the sky thinking at best - there was no surety that he would be for very long.

So, her heart hissed.

She wanted to kill them both – Kaname and Kenichi.

She couldn't kill Kenichi.

Kenichi was too far away and out of her reach to kill him. At least, Yuki knew that the place he was currently in would ensure his death. And hopefully a death that was as vicious as possible. The level of barbarism she had heard about that island could only come from a sick mad man's dream.

Yet, she _couldn't_ kill Kaname.

Despite the fact that he was the father of her two children, Yuki wanted to shred him to pieces. As the same time, Yuki bitterly knew that she didn't have the power to really threaten that evil man's life. Even during their vicious fight one year ago, Yuki's claws and scythe drank until it bloated with Kaname's blood. Yet she knew that Kaname had not taken that fight as serious as he would have if he had felt that his life was truly threatened. Kaname's power was ancient and deep. It was why he had gotten to such a powerful position in so short a time period when there were other more ancient vampires then he in this realm. When he had merged Kaname Kuran I with Kaname Kuran II – that new Kaname Kuran had a power that she had never felt before in her life. Even during the explosions and the tearing of vampire flesh, she had felt a deep untapped power within him that he was refusing to use against her.

It burned her darkening soul to know that she wouldn't have been able to outright kill that monster herself. His death would be so much more satisfying than what she was currently trying to do.

However, just because Kaname's physical power was overwhelming, it didn't mean she could not strike at other places.

And other places she would definitely strike.

Yuki understood Kaname. She knew his greatest fears, and she was going to use it against him.

And losing her was just the first step.

* * *

His sky-scraping city apartment was gloomy for his soon-coming day rest.

Senri was dressed in his pajamas and was about to go to sleep, but his plan for a peaceful rest was vicious stopped when his lawyer girlfriend, Rima Touya, stormed into his home unexpectedly. Senri irately wondered why his girlfriend had the nerve to simply walk all over the Dark Lord of Vampire Media (but that was what _made_ her _Rima_). However, then she told him something that made him feel like Christmas, New Year's Day, and his Birthday had all met together and decide to reward him with a fabulous, if a greatly shocking gift.

The very-awake-now Senri Shiki looked at his girlfriend for a long moment. Her blue eyes were slightly red, so he decided to lighten the mood a bit. "Do you hear that?" He asked her calmly.

Rima blinked. "Hear what?" Rima asked in confusion.

Senri gave her a light but very sad grin. "The sound of my various advertisers crying."

Rima stared. "Senri!" Rima blue eyes flashed. "Don't joke about something like this!"

That wasn't the best of jokes it seemed. "I'm sorry." Senri lowly said. "But while I feel terrible that Zero was a poor victim of Kaname's evil. I'm still going to be making a _lot_ of money with this scoop."

"Senri!" She scandalously said.

Senri shook his head. Zero Kiryu's murder was arranged by Kaname. While such a revelation was shocking and frightening, Senri recognized this for what it truly was.

Kaname was being perfectly Kaname.

Kaname _was_ the type to destroy something to get something else. And if he couldn't have that particular something he would –

Senri's mind suddenly summoned the image of his Mr. Mittens' lovely large golden eyes.

His stomach harshly twisted.

He shook his head. "We will get him, Rima. We will get him." Senri looked at her. "For Yuki, for Zero, for all the countless victims, we will get him." He grabbed her and held her tightly. The situation suddenly became more real to Senri. By darkness, they were actually going up against someone who was that cruel and evil. _How would they do it?_ Senri sighed. He needed to sleep now. "Let's get some rest. The first session of the divorce is going to be happening in less than three nights. We still have a lot of work to do."

Rima nodded her brunette head and wiped a few tears from her blue eyes. Senri's arms felt very warm. Yes. They were going to get that vile serpent king if it was the _last_ thing they ever did.

* * *

**The Following Night **

The Vampire Queen of Central and Southern Africa, Queen Biashara Bimnono, was again remained why she did not like pale-skin vampires. First the warhorse Dracula, then that stupid human-hater Maxwell, and now this icy Kuran? As the oldest person in the entire world, Biashara knew a thing or two about people, whether vampire or human, and what she knew strengthen her isolationist policies and beliefs.

Darkness and Light will never agree. Fools throughout the centuries have tried to merge the two forces together, but the result was always more evil. Humans and Vampire, while being so similar, were completely different creatures entirely. Had vampires taken the nobler path when it was offered to them, then perhaps their race's final fate would have been different. Biashara predicted that her kind would one day be completely destroyed, yet in a strange way, she was indifferent towards it. With the way the humans were, they would eventually rise up and be the only rulers of both the day-and-night worlds. However, even at this, Biashara wasn't really concerned for it.

Evil must always be punished.

And while humans were far from being angels, vampires were closer to being demons.

Still, Biashara knew she just couldn't ignore this newest development. Even if she wanted to and she really, really wanted to.

Her youngest descendant, Abi Bimnono, held up her e-reader and stopped her reading. "This has never happened before in the history of the world! A pureblood vampire divorce – no, scratch that - a _royal_ pureblood vampire divorce! This is the stuff of legends! It will go down in all of history!"

The African queen was unimpressed. Ah, youth. "Nonsense." She said. "This has happened before. Nothing is new under this sun."

Her young descendant stared. "What? A royal pureblood vampire divorce? I've never heard or read or seen such a thing!" The young girl abruptly sat down of her sofa.

The ancient ebony woman rolled her dark eyes. "It happened when we had that eighth continent in the now-termed Pacific Ocean."

Her descendant blinked at her slowly. Biashara could see that her descendant was mildly wondering if long age was really catching up to her. "Eighth Continent? But we don't have an eighth continent –"

"I know." The Queen annoyingly intoned. "The Atlantis continent was completely destroyed during its first royal pureblood vampire separation." The oldest person in the world said. "What a nightmare that was."

"Atlantis!" Abi stared. The queen ignored her.

And what a nightmare was she going to have to step into. When their representatives called her to be their moderating judge - and the black queen _knew_ they would call; she was the only logical choice in this matter - she would have to be their neutral judge. Honestly, if they had been mere nobles, it wouldn't be as bad as she supposed. However, Queen Biashara wasn't about to let this situation repeat history again. If only for humanity's sake, she would try to control those two, King Kaname and Queen Yuki, as best as she could.

* * *

Silver slumbered.

_He was dreaming and because he was dreaming, he was very disturbed. Silver Night only dreamed of things when he was on the edge of death. Dreams were never a good sign. He much preferred an empty blackness or a never-remembered nightmare than a dream. _

_Dreams always made him sad. _

_He was in a long, quiet and lonely hallway. The hallway was winding and dim. It was enough to see, but it made the entire area feel abandoned and empty. On his right side and on his left side were many black doors. Black doors lined the empty hallway, and Silver was very unnerved to be surrounded by so many black doors. _

_A black door when Silver dreamed always represented death. _

_Silver was not going to open any of these doors. So, he started walking. _

_As he theorized, the hallway was empty, lonely, and quiet. The only thing he could see was a black door after a black door after a black door. Something inside him was twisting and his heart hurt. Black door after black door after black door. Would all he see be black doors? He didn't want to die. He couldn't die. He didn't find his key yet! _

_Without warning, the long hallway that had nothing but black doors disappeared. Silver's purple-gray eyes widen. He was in a new room now and there were new three doors surrounded him. _

_Door One was Solid Gold. _

_Door Two was Solid Silver. _

_Door Three was Solid Bronze. _

_He instantly knew that his true self was behind Door One. Silver went to it and grabbed the knob to open it. _

_It wouldn't open. _

_And strangely, Silver couldn't see through it like he could in his other dreams. _

_Something about that hurt him. It hurt him deeply. Silver tugged on the golden door's doorknob again. **Open**. Silver thought. **Why won't it open?**_

_And a door did open - but not the golden one. _

_Silver turned away from the golden door. The bronze door was the one that had opened. There was darkness behind it, but suddenly a small silver-haired child with clear lavender eyes came out. Silver stared at the child in complete astonishment. What in the world? Who was this child? And how could he possibly be here?_

_Silver looked into the child's clear lavender eyes, but the eyes he saw did not belong to the eyes of a mere child. The child had broken, tired, and old-man eyes._

"_Please stop trying to open the golden door, shadow self." The child said. "The true self does not want it open."_

_Silver was surprised a third time this dream. "My true self is behind that door." He was suddenly distrustful. "I will not listen to what you say." _

_The child heavily sighed. He shook his head. "The true self **does not want** the door to be opened. Leave him alone and do what you were commanded to do." _

_But Silver was shocked. Not want the door opened? "Why?" Silver asked breathless. Why would his true self not want the door opened? He was trapped and bound with thorny chains that made him bleed and cry. Silver's entire life goal was to free him from that fate. So, why? Silver refused to obey. He looked sharply at the child who was no child. "Who are you?" He bitterly asked. _

_The child stared at him for a moment. "The waxed self." He said. _

_Silver was completely taken aback. "I have never known you. Have you always existed since my creation?"_

"_That is not for you to know." The child said. "You only have one purpose." _

_One purpose? Silver's purple-gray eyes narrowed. "And what is that purpose?"_

"_Survive. You must survive." The waxed self child said. "Do nothing but survive." _

_Something about the waxed self's words made him very, very angry. "Why should I? Why am I surviving?" He hissed. "What hope do I have for me to continue with this shadowed existence?" Silver felt like sobbing, but to prevent his tears, he summoned his anger and pain."I cannot love. I cannot be kind. I cannot feel happy." His spat out."In order for me to survive, I become a destroyer." But suddenly, he felt very drained. "And I'm so tired of being a destroyer."_

_Yet the child with old man's eyes had no pity for him."Only a destroyer could have survived." He looked at Silver for a moment, and his eyes went cold. "But kindness is not for you. Happiness is something you will not have. And love will never be yours." _

_It was as if a hot and poisonous knife was thrust into his heart. **Pain**. By all that is dark, the pain. Silver was breathless. "How dare you...expect me to survive...without such...hope?" He could barely chock out the words. His heart felt like it was tearing. Venom seemed to numb his veins. Kindness, happiness, and love were something he could never have? _

_Why? _

_Those three things were the only things Silver ever truly wanted._

_The waxed self shook his head again. "It was why you were created. Only you survived the breaking. All others died. "_

_Silver was barely listening to the child."I will not continue this existence then." He hissed. "I will not. I will not." If he was just supposed to survive with no hope, Silver would rather be dead. Death was better than this accursed shadow existence."How long will the true self trap himself within himself? How long must I endure jailor after jailor, pain after pain, blood after blood until I can truly feel? How long must I live and struggle before I can finally be complete?" He repeated the question he asked his true self time and time again after a near-death episode. Perhaps the waxed self would give him a different answer now?_

_But the clear lavender eyed child smiled at him sadly."Until his punishment is complete."_

_The same answer. The same blasted answer! _

_Silver was livid._

_For once in his empty existence, he hissed a second question. "A punishment for what?" He bitterly asked the waxed child self. _

_There was silence from the child, and Silver grew even more bitter. Of course, why would the waxed self answer if the true self never would? _

_But then the child looked at him suddenly and then let out another big sigh. Silver's eyebrows narrowed in confusion._

"_...For breaking." The waxed self said. _

Then Silver woke up.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Ho ho! This story's various game pieces are somehow being finalized in my head. XD Thicken, my plot, thicken! ;D Anyway, it was pointed out to me that my grammar mistakes can be quite distracting. (I'm so sorry!) Honestly, I'll try to get at them faster if you guys don't mind pointing them out to me. Sometimes, it takes me a couple of chapters before I really see them in previous ones...if I see them at all...(Sigh.) Anyway, my poll for update time is still going. This chapter and the next one will be the last ones were you guys can vote for it. I'm going to start that new update time in November so...choose while you still have a chance! XD So far, 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM are neck and neck. XD **Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts in a review! :)**


	41. Chapter 40 Groundwork

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

Butler Rio had hurriedly left his private office after he had informed Kaname who was now on the phone line waiting to talk to him.

Kaname briefly wondered if he was dreaming or having a nightmare.

Of all the people in the world to call him at this moment, this person wasn't someone he ever expected to have the sheer gall to do so. The Far Eastern Vampire King had to prepare himself for the first Royal Assembly of the New Royal Year that would start in less than one hour and to have this person call him before such a thing occurred did not bear well for Kaname's current mental state.

Kaname Kuran wondered if someone up there (or knowing him – someone down there) had an axed to grind against him.

How _dare_ this fiend call him?

"My dear friend," The European Vampire King, Maxwell Von Anderson, said. His blue eyes locked onto him over the video phone screen with mocking sympathy. "I've just _heard_ the news. I'm _completely_ in _tears_ for you." He drawled. "Such a _tragedy_ you are facing."

"Why are you calling me, Maxwell?" Kaname had to struggle to control himself. He would not allow Maxwell to get the best of him.

It took great effort.

"I called to _comfort_ you in your time of need, my dear friend." Kaname squeezed his chair's armrest tighter. Maxwell's mocking blue eyes revealed no such intention. "I believed this to be the correct thing to do." Maxwell continued to drawl. "However, I want you to know that I will be _excitedly_ watching your televised divorce proceedings! I think I'll even eat popcorn until I _pop_ while watching it!"

Oh, Kaname truly did hate Maxwell.

But Maxwell wasn't done. "Also, I wanted to ask…Will you be okay with it if I start dating your wife after you both are separated?" Maxwell needs to die_…right now._ Kaname's dark-brown eyes blazed with unholy fury at the mere suggestion! But Maxwell continued to smirk. "She is _quite_ a lovely little thing, and she really needs the _perfect_ man in her life after all." Maxwell's blue eyes gleamed. "_Clearly_ you aren't managing your bedroom affairs very well, so your wish to our future happiness is the _least_ you could do."

He lost it.

Kaname instantly melted the video phone screen with his power.

* * *

**Chapter Forty: Groundwork **

* * *

**Present **

Silver felt numb.

The last dream that he had had made him feel so numb and so lost that Silver thought he was on the verge of insanity.

So, there was another self who existed inside him. The child-image waxed self. He had thought he was the _only_ one.

The chilling understanding that he would always be a lost half-person….

The years of pain, neglect, and abuse he went through…

The decades of private internal loneliness…

He had not been entirely alone, it seemed.

But the fact that the waxed self had kept his presence secret from Silver all this time made Silver feel…numb. To realize that he could have at least had someone – anyone or anything – to talk to about this personal crisis and pain of his….that that someone had kept themselves hidden from him... and when they did finally meet he only gave him icy words….

Silver wondered why his other two selves were so damn cruel.

Silver remember his dream. There was so much to consider and Silver felt like he was in a race to figure out what that sad dream represented. Time felt like it was leave him and Silver didn't know why that was the case.

_"It was why you were created. Only you survived the breaking." _

In that dream, he saw numerous black doors. Black door, after black door, after black door. When Silver saw a black door, he knew what it meant. A black door always represented death. Death. His death in particular.

"_All others died."_

Silver had a suddenly revelation. There had been other selves it seemed. Other selves that did not survive. Other selves that chose to open the black door of death.

But Silver had never opened his black door. But now, he wasn't so sure if he wouldn't if he was graced to see that black door another time.

_"But kindness is not for you. Happiness is something you will not have. And love will never be yours."_

If that was the case, then why was Silver even trying to survive, then? He would never have happiness or kindness or love. He could never have what everyone else on this wretched planet could so easily have and experience! If he could not have those precious, precious things then why live? What was the point of living?

_"Survive. You must survive." The waxed self child said. "Do nothing but survive."_

**Survive. **

He must live to survive.

Silver felt hurt. It was a bone-deep hurt that ached and vibrated throughout his very being. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt. The pain flowed like a steady and quiet river though his listless veins.

He must live to only survive.

Survive.

That single word was the first plea his true self had ever spoken to him. When Silver had become aware of himself, he hadn't known who he was, where he was, or what he was. He was covered in blood and a strangely familiar, shockingly cold-bitter, and mature crimson liquid coated his tongue, mouth, and paling lips.

The first thing that he saw was a pair of intensely red and possessive eyes. They were the eyes of one of his creator's - a shockingly strong middle-age noble vampire man with soulless crimson eyes and silver-white hair. This man gazed at him with a very satisfied expression in his bloody orbs and whispered. _"Perfect. So Perfect. This will be the one. Those are the eyes of the perfectly corrupted one. The one who will embody my wonderfully defiled silver night."_

_Survive._ It was a voice that came deep within him. It was a dying and sad voice that begged him. _Survive…please_.

And Silver had.

However, to do so, he became a very twisted, very depraved, and very filthy thing.

_"Only a destroyer could have survived."_

Silver was aware of the countless sins and crimes he had committed over his long imprisonment. He had been cruel, and he had manipulated. He was able deceived a person so easily that it was almost like a basic habit of life to him. Give the master what he wants. Tell the master what he wants to hear. Show the master the great dreams and high ambition he desires.

And in bitter revenge for Silver's continuous suffering, pain, and constriction – he would destroy everything that master loved.

However, there had been one master Silver had never wanted to destroy. Honestly, there had been one. But _she_... _"I'm so sorry I couldn't free you, Silver." The old woman said tiredly._ But he couldn't help himself. Despite himself, in the end, Silver Night destroyed that old woman. A woman he never wanted to destroy.

Silver Night destroys everything he touches.

Of all the titles and names he had been graced with over the long years, the only title he every felt comfortable with acknowledging was the one that excited and frightened every master he ever had.

He truly was The Harbinger of Dream's Destruction.

But Silver had survived. He fulfilled his command by his true self. But his true self still kept himself away, and his true self fought against his efforts to free him from his locked golden door and gnawing thorny chains.

Why was that so?

"_Until his punishment is complete." _

What was his punishment for then?

_"...For breaking." The waxed self said._

For breaking. _For breaking. _**For breaking.**

Those two words echoed in Silver's mind.

For breaking. _For breaking._ **For breaking.**

What breaking? Why did this true self break? What caused the breaking? The breaking that only he – Silver Night – survived from? Perhaps if Silver learned the cause of the break, Silver could fix it? If he could fix it then…his true self would not need to be punished for it anymore.

Silver's hurt mind suddenly clicked.

That was it.

That was the key.

Silver's key to his true self was to fix what was broken.

Yet the mysterious question remained. What was it that was broken?

* * *

**An Hour Later**

Kanamne had calmed himself after that fiend's call. Aimless destruction could calm him sometimes. His Butler said he would replace the video phone screen immediately and Butler Rio also added that the new private energy shields that Kaname had requested to be put around his private palace were almost completed.

Kaname's dark mood had instantly lightened at that.

One part of his plan was finally finished. Kaname had noticed that his children seemed to be coming and going on his private domain as they seemed to please. Kaname decided to rectify that problem immediately.

When he activated those energy shields around his private King's Palace, no one would be able to come or leave his private palace unless he allowed them to.

It was a precaution for all the plans that Kaname had.

So, as the First Royal Assembly of the New Royal Year begun, Kaname was in a rumination mood. Despite showing his court an interested expression in tonight's affair, Kaname was actually lost in his mental thoughts.

_Perhaps his son wasn't such a reckless fool after all?_ King Kaname mentally mused to himself as he sat on his kingly black-gold throne in his massive royal audience chamber. Kai Ryunei, his outer court noble executive assistant, started the beginning announcements.

Haruka had told Juri that Silver was his bodyguard. What a marvelous fortune for that to occur. Kaname had not expected Juri to be with him, and it would be odd to her if such a stranger was constantly in Kaname's presence. While Kaname wasn't ashamed of his relationship with Silver, he didn't want it publicly known yet that he was Silver Night's newest master. The tabloids would be an unnecessary bother to him at this moment. After all, in order for his tactics and countermeasures to work against Yuki in their first divorce court session in less than two nights, Silver's existence needed to be kept secret for it to have their full effect.

But once Yuki realized that he had Zero Kiryu under his complete control and that as Silver Night, Zero Kiryu, had become one of Kaname's precious possessions, he didn't really care who knew what. After all, it was not uncommon for his sphere of society to have Dolls. In fact, he was probably an odd-man out in this particular matter. He could have had one ages ago, and the aristocracy wouldn't have batted an eyelash. Kaname was a Vampire Pureblood King. Therefore, he could have or do whatever he wanted.

Coming to thinking about it, Kaname did not punish the boy for having the audacity to dare lay his hands on one of his precious possessions. As Kaname briefly reflected on his last encounter with his son, he remembered that his son had accused him of cheating on his mother with Silver. _Cheating_. Kaname had wanted to slap the young idiot and always-jumping-to-bad-conclusions fool for even thinking that Kaname would sink so low as to 'cheat' _behind_ his wife's back.

If Kaname was a man who was prone to cheat, he wouldn't do it _secretly_ like most men did. He would have done in _openly_ just like Hanabusa Aido with his many, many (and another great many) women. Honestly, despite the fact that Kaname didn't really understand Hanabusa's free range activities with the opposite gender, there was a dubious admiration he had for his skills. Even with his infamous reputation as the Don Juan of Japan, Hanabusa was still able to seduce numerous willing women into his bed. How many children did Hanabusa have now? 96 children weren't it? Kaname casted a brief look at the man who stood so close to his throne on the left side. Amazing. That bored-looking blond-haired blue-eyed noble man actually fathered 96th children! Was he trying to outdo Genghis Khan? By darkness, Kaname had only one wife and two children, and he felt that he was always pushed over the brink all the time! Hanabusa surely was something!

Nevertheless, his Kingly Arms were both finally here. The King's Right Arm, Takuma Ichijo and the King's Left Arm, Hanabusa Aido, were both present at today's First General Court Assembly of the New Royal Year. Of course, the Royal New Year hadn't actually truly started, but due to that wretched divorce hearing, Kaname had to change his traditions entirely.

Oh, Yuki would _pay_ for this disruption to his carefully crafted routines.

Kaname lazily gazed at the present members of his Royal Court.

Currently, only the members of his Inner Circle and Outer Circle would be present for the First Royal Assembly of the New Year. His Inner Circle was composed of an eight-member team when Yuki was included. Member #1: Takuma Ichijo was known as the King's Right Arm. Member #2: Hanabusa Aido was known as the King's Left Arm. Member #3 & #4: Akatsuki Kain and Seiren were Co-Commanders of his Armed Vampire Forces (AVF). Member #5: Ruka Souen-Kain was the Mistress of Court Function. Member #6: Senri Shiki was the Dark Lord of Vampire Media. Member #7: Rima Touya was the Queen's Left Arm. And Member #8: Queen Yuki Kuran of the Far Eastern Vampire Realm.

Out of his eight-member inner circle, Yuki, Senri, and Rima were not present at this important event.

What a stupid move on their parts.

Takuma and Hanabusa were the two closest individuals to his throne, which meant that they had the greatest amount of power in the Far Eastern Vampire Realm at this moment. Beside Takuma was Seiren. Besides Hanabusa was Akatsuki and next to him was his wife, Ruka. After his inner circle, the vampire noble members of his Outer Court lined the massive kingly audience chamber. They were ranked in terms of importance, power, and pedigree. All in all, about seventy five members composed both his Inner Circle and Outer Circle.

Nevertheless, the Far Eastern Realm's Royal Court was split into three distinct sections. Obviously, the ultimate tier was the Inner Circle. However, the Outer Circle of his royal court was another highly coveted position to be in, because after the inner-circle members, vampire nobles which made up the Outer Court were next in power. The last section of Far Eastern Realm's court was the General Grand Royal Assembly. All other lesser ranked nobles, foreign territory nobles of China, Korea, and Mongolia, and a few and powerful Level C vampires made up the General Grand Assembly. While the General Grand Assembly was the lowest level of the Royal Court, they were higher in societal ranking when compared to the numerous nameless subjects that Kaname ruled over.

Despite that, the majority of members of vampire society that make up any of the three levels of his royal court were mostly noble vampires. Every now and again, a worthy Level C vampire could be seen among the Grand General Assembly members, but in general, nobles were the ones that he held most responsible for upholding his rule and kingdom on a daily basis.

However, there was one group left out of his royal court sections and kingdom governing affairs entirely.

One group that King Kaname Kuran was slowly, methodically, and ruthlessly crushing out of existence.

That group was the seven Japanese Pureblood Family Clans.

The Seven Japanese Pureblood Families were: 1) Kuran, 2) Ouri, 3) Shirabuki, 4) Hio, 5) Hanadagi, 6) Toma, and 7) Shoto. Currently, the Clans of Ouri, Shoto, and Hanadagi no longer existed. The Clans of Shirabuki and Hio only had two members each left. The Clan of Toma only had one member still alive.

Kaname had been slowly eliminating them out of existence.

It was a public secret that Kaname disliked those rival pureblood family clans. Therefore, over the past century, he had been steadily eliminating them. Surprisingly, the majority of his nobles had kept their silence on Kaname's not-so-hidden elimination process, and Kaname theorized that it was due to the fact that if there were no more pureblood vampires, the nobles would be the highest vampire class after the Royal Family in this realm. In a way, the noble vampires' coveting, greed, and ego were silent helpers to one of Kaname's most important long-term goals.

One of Kaname's long-term goals was the complete destruction of all purebloods clans of Far Eastern Realm. Kaname dreamed of a realm where he would no long have any supposed rivals to his throne and house. Nevertheless, the Japanese Pureblood Families weren't the only pureblood clans in existence. Each territory county that Kaname ruled over – China, Korea, and Mongolia – had their respective pureblood clans and King Kaname was beginning to slowly move against them as well.

The Five Korean Pureblood Families were: 1) Song, 2) Han, 3) Kim, 4) Nang, and 5) Tae. The Four Chinese Pureblood Families were: 1) Wang, 2) Li, 3) Chen, and 4) Hu. The Three Mongolian Pureblood Families were: 1) Sartaq, 2) Tatar, and 3) Rus.

In order for Kaname's wish of one royal pureblood house, he had to destroy the eighteen other pureblood families. After which, he would consolidate his power base in his realm, and then he would be able to move on to conquer the other vampires' realms. Little by little, bit by bit, realm by realm Kaname would take until he had the entire vampire world in his handsome hand.

Then he would crown himself _Great Emperor Conqueror Kamane Kuran the Only. _

And after that was achieved, perhaps he'll target the human world? It was always a possibility. As a forever pureblood he would always need another thrilling thing to do. And what was more thrilling then the creation, having, and using of ultimate power in all its myriad of forms? But first thing first - he needed to nip his personal problems in the bud quickly so to speak. He couldn't well rule the world when his own house was in such a pitiful state.

King Kaname Kuran decided to refocus himself on the current events before him.

After Kai Ryunei finished his beginning announcements, Takuma Ichigo stepped forward. "The first item on the agenda is the coming Royal Divorce, my king. There will be about 700 people in attendance to the First Court Session."

Kaname nodded his head. Yes. This little circus of Yuki's was going to be quite a show.

"500 of the attendants will be from the various noble vampire families throughout the Japanese nation." Takuma continued. "However, the foreign vampire aristocracy of our territories will also be sending representatives from their various pureblood and noble family clans."

_Ah._ He almost forgot about them.

The Far Eastern King's dark-brown eyes narrowed at that. "Including the Korean Purebloods and Nobles?"

Those blasted Koreans!

He had that problem to deal with as well as his supposed divorce. Those damn Korean Purebloods! Why couldn't they be more accepting of their station like the Mongolian Aristocracy? And it wasn't just the Koreans Purebloods that caused him so many problems. The Chinese Pureblood Clans had also been extremely rebellious during his rule, but when Kaname had brutally crushed their last rebellion (In 2083 AD), they hadn't caused quite as much trouble as before. (Well, Kaname had _permanently_ silence 80% of their aristocratic members. So, they _should_ be quiet….if they knew what was _best_.)

Still, Kaname wasn't too pleased by the fact that perhaps some of those rebellious Korean purebloods would be in attendance at his divorce court session.

"Yes, my king." Takuma lowly said. "Even the Korean Purebloods well be sending their various representatives. They will be arriving by ship." Takuma added.

Suddenly, Hanabusa Aido stepped forward. "Also, my king, I was just informed that a Vampire Ambassador from the North American Vampire Realm is coming to see you."

_The North American Vampire Realm?_

Kaname felt like cursing. Only when the master of hell built a snowman on his front lawn would he allow another foreign vampire power into this affair!

"A foreign power would dare wish to attend a private realm affair?" Kaname heatedly asked.

Hanabusa blinked his blue eyes. "No, my king!" He clarified. "He wanted to speak with you about trading agreements and matters."

Kaname stared. Trading Agreements? Now? That is the furthest of things on his mind right now.

"I see." Kaname said. His eyes scanned his assembled inner circle and outer court members. Didn't Yuki handle the accommodations for important guests and dignitaries? Well, obvious she wouldn't be able to do so with this. "Hanabusa, you are in charge in ensuing that the Ambassador's accommodations are well suited."

Hanabusa blinked. _Say what now?_ How could Kaname-sama give him such a task?

Takuma resumed his speaking. "Also, my king, Vampire Queen Biashara Bimnono of Central and Southern Africa has agreed to be the moderating judge for the duration of the your divorce." Takuma said.

Three different vampire powers interacted with him this night. First, that blasted call from Maxwell, then, for some reason, King Edwards was sending his ambassador to speak with him about currently-to-him worthless trading agreements, and now The Ebony Isolationist Queen was overseeing his divorce? Kaname was not at all pleased.

Kaname pressed his lips together tightly. Queen Biashara. Oh, how he remembered her. She was ancient even during his first existence and he had met her once during his first existence's darkest hour. She left quite an impression on him. Still, he was quite surprised that someone from that far back was still around and in the same exact position they had always been. Kaname didn't understand it. Had Kaname followed Biashara's lead and not have the fatal desire for eternal slumber when he was finally confronted with his first existence's ultimate fear, he would have conquered the entire world by now. But Queen Biashara had simply allowed things to flow as they may. No conquering. No shaping. She just stood by the sidelines and watched.

Kaname didn't like Queen Biashara because of it.

But he did grudgingly respect, even if he didn't really understand, her life choices. That ability to survive despite all the rapid changes of the earth's life was a power, and even he could recognize it. She would probably end up being one of his greatest enemies once Kaname launched his world-wide conquering campaign, but thoughts of those matters would be best left far into the future.

Still, out of all the vampires possible on this planet, she was the only one who could logically do this. Fortunately, Kaname did not require her to be one of his critical pawn pieces and her presence, while historical, in and of itself, would not be a great danger to his to-be-unleashed plans and countermeasures. In fact, because Queen Biashara was as neutral as one could be…Yuki wouldn't be able to fight against the woman's final say.

"That will be fine, Takuma."" King Kaname said. "I will accept Queen Biashara being the moderating judge."

Takuma's green eyes widen. He suddenly wanted to leap with joy!

Of all the things to do with this entire affair, finding and getting the moderating judge was the hardest thing to do. Takuma knew that Kaname did not like foreign rulers involved in his affairs, so after Biashara, he would have been the next great problem. (Rima had said that Yuki was completely fine with Biashara.) Rima and he agreed to work together to convince the African Queen to be the moderating judge.

Just a few hours ago, they had formed a three-way video call conference, and Takuma had been expecting that he would have to promise the ebony queen the moon in order to get her to even consider doing it.

But after giving their first plea to her, Queen Biashara had easily agreed to do. Rima had looked flabbergasted at the ease of which the notoriously isolationist had agreed to do it. And Takuma wasn't sure if he had heard her right.

However, the woman said she would only be there one hour before the first session divorce session started and not a moment before. Takuma was a bit shocked at that. She'll arrive one hour before it even starts? She was over ten time zones apart! How could she just…show up at such a thing and event? Unfortunately, before Takuma could say another thing, the Queen promptly ended their call.

Honestly, why were vampire pureblood rulers so detached?

Nevertheless, King Kaname sighed and then he looked at his Royal Assembly. "What other new business will the new year bring?" He requested.

And the First Royal Assembly Session of the New Year continued on.

So many things were happening.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Trick of treat? X3 Today is Halloween, so I doubt many people will even read this. XD Anyway, so the plot marches on! Please remember that the poll for updating will end after November 1. But thanks for reading, don't eat too much candy snacks, and please leave a lovely treat review! XD


	42. Chapter 41 Underpinning

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

The Gray Panther was slightly subdued this evening. Tomorrow evening would be the first in probably a long line of court divorce sessions between the Far Eastern Royal Couple. As the President of the Hunter's Association, Toga Yagari knew he had a duty to attend, but he wasn't about to go alone by himself. He was bringing his Vice President, Kaito Takamiya, Kaien Cross, the Chairmen of Cross Academy and adoptive father of Queen Yuki, and the future President of the Hunter's Association, Kagome Takamiya. Kagome Takamiya was the grandniece of Takamiya.

Toga's single blue eye tiredly looked over the young Kagome.

Out of all the hunters Toga has ever met, Kagome was the most cheerful. In a way, it was disturbing that such a smiling and upbeat person was a vampire hunter, but then Toga had to deal with Kaien Cross – so odd personalities was something he had grown use to dealing with.

Then again, all human vampire hunters seemed to have some peculiarities to their personality. Toga Yagari played the part of bitter and sarcastic old coon very well. Kaito was the prefect role model of a cankerous and war-hungry old solider. Kaien Cross seemed to have a split Dr. Jekyll (if Jekyll was a chibi idiot) and Mr. Hyde (if Hyde was a merciless vampire killer) personality. So, in a way, Kagome's smiling personality was the most normal out of all of them. Kagome was in her mid-20s and her skills as a huntress couldn't be questioned. She was the brightest star of the Hunter's Association, and Toga would feel comfortable leaving the organization in her hands when he passed on from this life.

Which, when considering current events, was probably soon.

Kaien Cross wiped a few large tears from his baby brown eyes. His small glasses were askew, and he slammed his left palm against the wooden diner table. "I'm a terrible papa!" He moaned into his rarely had beer. "Terrible. Terrible. Terrible am I!" He hiccupped.

Toga's blue eye narrowed slightly at his friend's behavior. A hidden part of the elderly Yagari wanted to say, 'Yes, you are a terrible papa.' just to make his crummy self feel better about this newest crisis, but that clearly would not be a very nice thing to say. Toga was a mean old man, but even he knew when to curve his vicious tongue. So instead he said, "Divorces happen all the time. It's not that big of a deal." Toga knew the words he spoke were a lie, but what else could he say?

Divorces in the vampire world were a relative rarity, especially when compared to the human world. Divorces just weren't the normal vampire way. So the fact that the divorce was happening to the Royal Couple of the Far Eastern Vampire Realm was probably taking the global vampire world by storm. Ever since Toga learned of the coming divorce, he had had calls from all the various vampire hunting and defensive human agency around the global. He got calls from the League of Vampire Hunting (North America), La Asociacion Del Cazador de Vampiro (South America), Vatican (Europe), and various other organizations. Toga knew they had a right to be extremely concerned. King Kuran wasn't exactly a small fish in vampire world affairs being the de-facto faction leader of the Eastern Pacific Coalition. In essence, the nightfall might of the global vampire world was split between the three faction Kings: Kuran, Edwards, and Maxwell.

If Toga was a pessimist (which he was), then he would say that the future was dark.

Kaien Cross lightly circled the top of his beer bottle with his index finger. "Why do you think she's divorcing him?" A sad frown was on his lips.

Toga simply rolled his eyes. Who knows? Whatever the reason is it must be big. While Toga hated the vampire race, he couldn't hate Yuki. Yuki would have been the wife of his late son and despite being a pureblood vampire, Toga honestly liked her back then. She was one of the few people to open up that old-man-in-a-young-teen son of his and Toga was extremely grateful for it. She had looked for him so desperately when Zero was taken and during the months he had seen her waste away into a breathing corpse. He did try to get her to eat or sleep because he knew Zero wouldn't have wanted the person he loved to look so bad, but Yuki's dedication was something he couldn't fight. And he was desperate to find the boy as well.

But then Yuki had that terrible miscarriage.

It was another thing Toga hated himself for. Yuki unknowingly carried the last of the Kiryu's in her skin-and-bone's body. He should have been firmer and forced her to take better care of herself. When he realized what had happened, he wanted to die himself - he failed the Kiryu Clan yet again – but Yuki had taken it so much worst. She went completely mad due to the crushing two losses and guilt.

Toga felt like the world's worst fool and idiot.

He was a vampire hunter. He was a protector of mankind. And he couldn't even protect the people closest and dearest to him. All those past lessons to Zero about how a hunter protects life seemed so hypocritical to him now.

However, Yuki changed much after she found herself. She was extremely distant, with few gleams of her kind self from time to time. Toga was also sad to see it. Whenever he looked into her dark-brown eyes, he saw something very broken. He was so sorry to see it.

Nevertheless, the hard-hearted Kaito gave Toga a cynical hazel-eyed stare. He shrugged his shoulders and took another swing of his fifth bottle of beer. Kaito had viewed Zero as his ultimate rival at the Association. In a way, Kaito also loss much when Zero was taken as well. Without that friendly rivalry, Kaito's skills as a hunter never peaked and Kaito was so bitter because of it.

Kaien's baby brown eyes widen with a sudden unspeakable thought. "You don't think…he was _beating_ her…do you?" He suddenly gasped.

Toga froze at the suggestion, but then shook his head. "Kuran doesn't strike me as that kind of guy." Toga rubbed his white beard in a thoughtful manner.

"You're right, Toga." Kaito Takamiya said while nodding over his fifth beer bottle. "He wouldn't..._beat_ her." He then took a large gulp of his bottle. "He would have..._tortured_ her instead." He unwisely added.

_Damn it, Kaito._ Toga thought as Cross burst into further large tears.

"That's not a nice thing to say, Uncle Kaito." The young Kagome frowned.

Kaito shrugged his shoulders again as if to say, _Prove that I'm wrong then._

There was a telling silence between the four.

Cross wiped away his new tears. "My beloved daughter…. is getting….. a divorce." The glassing wearing man looked at his companions emptily. "I'm terrible. Terrible. I didn't even see it coming."

"I don't think anyone saw it coming." Kaito pipped in. "The entire world…didn't see it coming." He took another gulp of his beer. "But let's…look on the bright side." He sneered at his warped reflection in his beer's brown glass.

"Which is?" Cross hopefully asked.

"You and Toga... can start... a club." Kaito drily said.

Toga and Cross immediately looked at each other. Their twin clueless expressions were imitated by the other.

Kaito snapped his finger. "You… can call it…the F.W.C.K.K.H.S.O….Club."

Toga growled at his obviously drunk friend. "Club What?" What nonsense word was that?

"The Fathers-Whose-Children-Kaname-Kuran-Has-Screwed-Over-Club." Kaito darkly grinned as he took another swing of his beer.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-One: Underpinning**

* * *

**Present**

Haruka listlessly packed his suitcases.

Coming to think about it, he'd been packing suitcases a bit too many times lately. The first court divorce session would start next night, and Haruka was getting ready to go. Mother and he would be staying at the place where the conference would be held. Their room would be in the Imperial Hotel's world-famous Queen's White Wing Building. However, Haruka had learned that his father and sister would also be staying at The Imperial Hotel, but they would be stationed in the King's Red Wing Building. That fact made Haruka uneasy. It was almost a symbolic sign of the state of Haruka's family right now.

Prince Haruka Kuran didn't know what to think about his life and family anymore.

Father, mother, his sister, and heck – even Silver, were all smashing together and confusing Haruka's inner world.

Mother.

Mother informed him of her decision to divorce his father a few days ago. In less than a night's time, Haruka would have to be in court watching the cruel feud between father and mother escalate. Haruka was a bit conflicted.

He loved his mother, and he knew that mother loved him. Sometimes mother would joke with him and tease him, but more often then he would like, she would suddenly get an odd look in her eyes whenever she looked at him. For the longest of times, Haruka couldn't really understand that odd gleam. The look was strange to him. It was like mother had suddenly realized he wasn't someone she thought she was talking to, and then she'll look at him with sad expression. Haruka always felt extremely confused and...if he were honest...a bit hurt by the look. Still, he loved his mother very much. She was the one that took care of him, despite sometimes looking at him with sad eyes.

Still, why was mother divorcing father in the first place?

Father's affair would have been the obvious answer to him. However, when he had spoken with his mother, she had acted shock that father was even having one. Which made Haruka even more confused and stupid. Why did he tell his mother of father's affair then? He probably made the split between them even worst by telling. Mother had been livid at the news, and Haraka was a bit scared of her anger. However, that anger only came after Haruka described Silver's looks to her. When he described them, that was when mother went from utter shock to extreme rage. She had thanked Haruka for telling her, lightly patted his shoulder, and then asked him to politely give her some space. Haruka did, but he was a bit confused at that. Sure, Silver was a good-looking and rare person, but Haruka didn't think his mother should have been angry over Silver's looks. She was very pretty herself, you know?

Well, who knows what women think really? Much less what your own mother would think.

All the same, Haruka had decided that he would support his mother in this grand decision of hers. After all, mother must have had a good reason, and Haruka knew that soon that reason would be revealed to the entire world and him. He could be patient to learn it. In a way, Haruka didn't really want to think about his parent's relationship anymore. It seems to him every time he tried to do something it went straight to hell.

Juri.

That brainless idiot! She yelled at their mother with cruel words, and then she runs off without saying sorry. She didn't even know half the things he did, and she goes running off to father of all people! Stupid Juri! But perhaps it was his fault. Maybe if he had been honestly to her about Father's and Silver's current affair behind their mother's back, Juri would have been more accepting of what mother was currently doing. Perhaps in a way it was Haruka's fault for not telling the truth.

Well, he would have to rectify that mistake. After all, if Juri knew the whole truth, he was sure she would better understand mother's decision and then be very sorry for her harshly spoken words to her. Haruka really wasn't looking forward to it. Juri was a brainless idiot to him, but she could be quite scary when she was mad. (But then, wasn't that true for all women?)

Honestly, the two main females in Haruka's life were easy to figure out. Mother and Juri were mad. Mother was mad at father. Juri was mad at mother. While Haruka wasn't exactly happy about what was going on with those two women, he could at least understand where they were coming from.

That couldn't be said about the two males in his life.

Silver.

He was the newest addition to Haraku's life, but Haruka was really unsure what to make of the man.

Haruka had only really interacted with the man for two days at the most, and that man had completely changed his entire world. Haruka went from wanting to avenge his broken home caused by the evil home-wrecker to confusingly liking the man (because he not only defended him from his heartless father but was also very nice to him) to fearing the man (because of the new things he had just learned about that man's past and station in life).

But Silver was nice to him. He was really honestly nice to him. Haruka was used to people being nice to him because he was the heir pureblood prince of this vampire realm, but Silver was genuinely nice to him. He'd paid complete attention to Haruka. He understood Haruka's true intentions when even his own father didn't. Silver called him...my dear son.

Haruka had always wanted to hear those types of words and Silver was really the first man to say such words to him and honestly mean it.

Yet Silver wasn't some poor innocent bystander in his life. The man was sleeping with his father. But Haruka finally understood that perhaps that wasn't entirely by Silver's free choice.

Silver was a Doll.

_A Doll. _

**A Doll. **

By darkness, Haruka wasn't sure what to think or feel or _do_ about it.

Silver was also known as a destroyer of lives and families. In the stories he had read, Silver had been a central reason of the destruction of the lives of an untold number of people. The numerous different stories he read included top members and families of vampire society. The Takashashi Nobles, The Sukakasi Clan, The Aizen Family - the only consistent thing in those stories was that whoever received the ownership of Silver Night would end up destroying their lives in less than 24 months. If Haruka had known of all that before he had met that unusually eyed man, he would never feel so torn right now.

The Silver Night that Haruka had met and the Silver Night he had read about seemed to be two completely different people.

And how could you blame Silver for the evils of his past?

Silver - despite his mysterious nature, good looks, charm, and talents – _was a slave_.

And a slave of the saddest kind – a spell-confined sexual vampire slave.

Perhaps Silver was kind to him because he was just a slave?

No! That niceness couldn't have just been an act! People generally tried to befriend Juri over Haruka because Juri was easier to deal with. Thus when they had spent that happy night together, Silver would have tried to curry favor with Juri by agreeing to everything she wanted. People had done that before, and Haruka had grown so use to it. But Silver didn't do that. He hadn't chosen the easier path. Silver actually listened to his suggestions over Juri's wants and had actually found ways to make them both happy. Both. Juri and Haruka had his complete attention and care.

Silver wasn't like his father at all.

And Silver wasn't really the great cause behind the split between his mother and father. So to blame him for it was quite unfair. Still, in the face of Haruka's confused and somewhat betrayed emotions, he at least had one emotion he was certain about!

Haruka pitied Silver.

He really, _really_ pitied Silver.

Poor Silver!

Silver Night was now the sex slave to his father – the Far Eastern Vampire King Kaname Kuran.

Poor, _poor_, _poor_ Silver!

If that fact wasn't something that could make anyone, even the vilest of the vile, be pitied then Haruka was a snail.

If Father wanted to, he could kill Silver with the slightest of thoughts. Haruka learned all about the various Doll Enhancements and what he learned made him sick to his stomach. There were many spells placed on Dolls, but the three main ones were the Submission Blood Bonds, The Master Protection, and Doll Termination.

The Submission Blood Bonds Spell could physically force the Doll to do whatever the master wanted, even if the Doll in question would be severely injured or be killed performing the tasks. The Master Protection Spell prevented a Doll from harming and killing a master, even if the master in question was cruelly abusing him or her. However, the Doll Termination Spell was the worst of the worst. That spell allowed the master to kill the Doll when they 'found the Doll's usefulness had run its course'. In other words, kill the Doll after you're bored with it or the Doll wasn't to the master's liking anymore.

Silver could be hurt or killed by his father without a moment's thought and at his father's whims.

And father had _many_ whims.

Father.

Haruka was familiar with the dangerous whims of his father. If father could be so cruel and indifferent towards him, who was his own blood-related son, how much so to someone like poor Silver?

Father would always say to him, _"If you want my affections, then grow your power, Haruka."_

And Haruka would feel the crushing weight of that responsibility. If he wanted his father's affection, he needed to have power.

But Haruka didn't like power.

"_You only have rights by your power."_ Father taught. _"Don't expect to be pleased. Cultivate fear in the enemy. Always gather power. Power will allow you to keep and have everything you want." _

Father's lessons on how to maintain power and control always rubbed Haruka the wrong way.

Control. Dominate. Crush. Rule.

Power is absolute.

Such harsh words. Such harsh, cold, and cruel words. No wonder those words perfectly defined his father.

Haruka didn't like power if that was what power was. What was the point of it then? Why control, dominate, crush, and rule others? Why? Could not power have another purpose? Why must it be used in that way? Therefore, despite Haruka's intense princely training, he could never truly accept the type of power his father wanted him to have and use.

Haruka knew his father knew his true feelings on this.

And _that_ was probably _why_ his father did not love him.

Whenever Haruka failed to crush an enemy or show a bit of mercy to a weaker soul, his father's dark-brown eyes would blaze with a dark flame against him. _"How did such a weak and useless fool like you come from my loins?"_ His father would hiss. _"Leave me. Until you have proven yourself to me, you worthless child, I don't even want to see you."_ And father would not lay eyes on him for weeks at a time whenever Haruka failed him.

"_If you want my affections, then grow your power, Haruka." _

Haruka desperately wanted his father's affections but...Haruka did not know if he wanted it for that high a price.

Haruka did not want to become like his father.

He did not.

* * *

King Kaname Kuran slowly walked to his Silver's lovely bedroom.

The first Royal Court Session of the New Year ended. Everyone had left, and he was somewhat tired. His mood was disquieted. He had so many new problems and people to deal with.

Sometimes, being a ruler was a bitter existence.

Kaname outlined his main problems in his mind as it meticulously walked down the lonely hallway. Problem #1: His first divorce session would start next night. Problem #2: His homeland would soon be flooded with foreign vampires and potential traitors. Problem #3: He had to deal with an international trade negotiation.

Problem #1 was something that Kaname knew how to solve. Yuki will not know what hit her when he finally revealed his latest scheme during the first court session. There was a brief moment of guilt he had for using these particular countermeasures, but he ruthlessly crushed his emotions. His plan was perfect, and it would achieve what he wanted the best. He would get Yuki back, and he would be able to keep his beloved Silver. Therefore, he had to use his weapon even if the tactics were so dirty. Still, there were a few things he needed to finalize and finish before this night was over.

Yet coming to think about it, Kaname would not be able to wipe out the Korean Pureblood Clans as soon as he wanted to because of this stupid divorce. All his current plans and long-term goals suddenly were put into danger because of Yuki's foolishness. Thinking of it that way, Kaname was finally able to destroy the last traits of his guilt.

Yuki, his beloved heart, would pay dearly for this.

Problem #2 was something he couldn't really stop. Queen Biashara and the foreign aristocracy was needed. However, they would bear witness to the dark and deep level of Kaname's sheer will. Nevertheless, he informed Akatsuki and Seiren to strengthen the security of The Imperial Hotel and the Golden Flower Conference Room. Kaname wasn't about to allow another great drama to unfold under his watch. The foreign Purebloods especially was a group he would need to keep his eyes on.

Problem #3 was something he would deal with after the first court session. Whatever King Edwards wanted wasn't the most important thing to deal with at this moment. That annoying joker. Honestly, Kaname was sure the man had other intentions in sending his ambassador to his realm now at all times. Yet while Kaname wasn't sure what the man wanted, he was sure it wasn't entirely innocent. Still, that wasn't his most important problem.

Suddenly, Kaname was before Silver's bedroom door. He stared at the door in front of him.

The man behind it was his most important problem.

Kaname took in a deep breath.

**Everything would change now. **

Without warning, Kaname opened the door to his personal sanctuary.

Silver Night rested on his white divan before the large moonlight window. His long high-silver hair flowed down his back and shoulders like a silky calm river. His snow-white hands lightly held a slightly open history book, but his sleepy wispy eyelashes were half-way closed. The tone and lean figure was adorned in a white silk yukate and Silver's handsome and beautifully symmetrical face was relaxed and contented.

Yet ever so slowly, Silver's warm amethyst -gray irises turned to meet the person who had just entered the room. Silver's sleepy and relax expression instantly woke up with delight at the individual who was now looking at him.

"Master Kaname." Silver's smooth deep voice called out to him. He placed the open book down and got up from his position. Like a quiet river over smooth stones, Silver walked towards Kaname and meet his eyes again.

Silver smiled warmly at Kaname. "Good evening, Master Kaname. Has your night been what you desired?"

Kaname looked at the man. Silver's smile was like the warmth of a thousand suns. He was suddenly filled with a peace and fullness in his dark and lonely heart. Before Kaname had met this person, he hadn't known that void was ever there.

Kaname's heart squeezed, but his mind was already made up _- he was never going to lose this person. _

Kaname reached out his hand and lightly pulled Silver towards him. His fingers touched soft snow-white skin and warm amethyst -gray eyes watched him gently as soft red lips lightly kissed one of Kaname's slightly shaking fingers. Kaname wanted to slowly allow all his problems to fall away at this moment.

But he couldn't. There were things he just needed to do.

Kaname looked at Silver softly. He knew his next words would start all his new plans. "My love," Kaname faintly started. "I need you to ready yourself because I will need you by my side tomorrow." Kaname's dark-brown eyes flashed with a strange emotion. "You are coming with me to my divorce proceedings."

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** And so the plot marches on! November has started! Whoohoo! It's the fourth month of writing this old ball story of my mine! XD I have ruined all my other hobbies because of it. ;D Anyway, the poll results were somewhat close, however, 6 PM PST won by one vote. :D So, the following chapters will be posted around that time. **But thanks for reading my lovely readers and please leave me a lovely review – Short or long, I love them all! XD**


	43. Chapter 42 Enlargement

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Senri Shiki was _quite_ busy.

"I need Cameras A, B, C on the east side of the room, and I want Cameras D, E, F on the west side." He barked out to his workers. Senri was currently located in The Golden Flower Conference Room of The Imperial Hotel. The morning light was just starting to peak out the large glass windows of the hotel conference room but Senri knew he wouldn't be going home anytime soon. He still had a lot of work to do in setting up the massive stage, background, and various props for Kaname's and Yuki's divorce event that would be starting the next night.

Under Senri's sleepy-yet-alert blue-eyed gaze, he watched as hundreds of his level C vampires employees rushed around the large conference room finishing up their various assignments of set design, lights, and camera set up.

Senri Shiki was slightly amused by all the things that were happening. His profits were skyrocketing. The entire affair was probably going to be the greatest fanfare and media blitz in the history of his company.

His 24-Hour News Channel, Vampire News Network (VNN), had been covering this entire affair non-stop for the last few days. His reporters, news analysts, and pundits had been going at it, and his ratings had reached an all-time high. His news channel reports and specials were being broadcasted around the global and were being translated into numerous languages. He had many vampire-owned companies pay three to four times the prices for advertising spots on his news channel during this time period, and Senri knew that he was going to be an extremely wealthy man after everything was over.

Some news specials he had created and broadcasted were entitled: _The Golden Years of the Royal Couple_ (which chronicled the lives of the royal couple together), _The Man Who Wears the Golden Crown_ (A documentary about Kaname's life) , _A Queen's Life_ (A documentary about Yuki's life), _The Road to Divorce_ (That was a semi-blunt propaganda piece that unfairly highlighted all the minor faults and failing in the royal marriage to Yuki's favor), and he even replayed the video movie of Kaname's and Yuki's solemn wedding that happened ninety years ago.

Ah, it was great being the creator of public opinion.

So far, the various hidden polls he had listed showed an increasing favor of Yuki's actions in the foreign vampire viewer demographic, despite the majority of those vampires not really understanding why she was actually doing it in the first place. However, the Far Eastern Realm citizens were still strongly supporting Kaname's side. Senri had somewhat expected that. Kaname was a terrifying figure, and his subjects did not want to feel the displeasure of their extremely powerful king. Still, some of the poll data he had collected revealed that while the massive majorities were 'neutral' on the divorce of their King and Queen, there seemed to be quite a large segment that was empathic to the Queen's plight.

His plan was working. Cue the evil cartoon villain laugh.

Yuki's past actions of curving Kaname's more vicious actions against his more 'rebellious' subjects were reaping huge benefits now. While it was in a vampire's nature to wish to dominate and rule over lesser creatures, Kaname's vice-like grip on his realm was startlingly in its intensity. The people had a love/hate relationship with their ruler. On the one hand, Kaname's control was a chocking hand against freedom of expression and opinion, but on the other hand, Kaname had made the Far Eastern Realm a powerful global vampire presence in such an unbelievably short amount of time. He made his realm on par with the two other great vampire realms: The North American Realm and the European Realm.

Far Eastern vampires were able to trade and travel without so much as a question because of Kaname's various growth and development projects. So, vampire lives in the Far Eastern Realm at all levels greatly increased for the better under his rule.

That is...if you were a Japanese Vampire.

The territory realm vampires of China, Korea, and Mongolia didn't quite have the same prestige, though they did enjoy other advantages being under his rule. Well, to be more honest, Kaname was harsher towards the Chinese and Korean vampires. The Mongolian vampires hadn't caused Kaname any sort of trouble and thus received the least amount of his restrictions. Kaname would typically hold up the Mongolian vampires as model citizens of his realm to spite the Chinese and Korean vampires that viewed the Mongolian vampires as 'weak', 'cowardly', 'lacking of pride' and 'poor in character'.

Senri didn't think that was the case. As a person who was highly familiar with what was going on in the various different demographics of the kingdom, what he heard from the grapevine was that the Mongolians were playing it as safe as they could. Also, unlike the Chinese and Korean vampire kingdoms, the Mongolians had something they could offer Kaname that the other two territory kingdoms could not.

The Mongolians were Kaname's first line of defense against the European Vampire King, Maxwell Von Anderson. Some of Maxwell's strongest vampire cities were located in Eastern Russia and Maxwell's past actions of trying to conquer the Far Eastern Realm and bring it under his control was well-known throughout the world. The previous rule of the Far Eastern Vampire Council that Kaname had destroyed when he took the throne had not been able to repeal Maxwell's various attacks. When Kaname came to power, he was able to rip apart Maxwell's hold on the Far East. Because of that, Kaname was greatly favored by the massive majority of this realm's vampire aristocracy.

However, Maxwell was still hungry for the power that he had lost and thus the Mongolian Vampire Realm were the watchmen of any unusual movements of Maxwell's against the Far Eastern Realm. Kaname knew it, and the Mongolians knew it as well. Unfortunately, for them, their pureblood clans were far too young and weak in power to truly use that fact to their advantage (A civil war had ripped that kingdom apart four centuries ago.). If they were to become an independent state, they would have to deal with the twin might of Maxwell and Kaname and that would leave them in a very nasty position indeed. Maxwell's reputation for crushing and destroying was far more infamous than Kaname's. Thus serving Kaname who treated them relatively well would allow them to have an easier life (well, as easy as a subjected kingdom could have anyways).

"Lord Shiki!" One of his workers called out. "The thrones of the King and Queen have just arrived!" Senri was snatched from his thoughts, and he rapidly blinked his blue eyes. He focused on his top personal assistant who had called out to him – Dai Masani. "Where do we set them up?" The short man tiredly asked.

Senri nearly shook his head. His daydreaming habits still haven't gone away despite all this years. "They are both going to be on the raised stage. The King's throne will be on the east, and the Queen's throne will be on the west." He ordered. Then he had a sudden thought. "Has the moderating judge's throne been completed yet?" Rima had told Senri that Queen Bimnono of Central and Southern Africa was going to be the presiding judge between Yuki's and Kaname's divorce. Senri didn't really know what to think about that. Honestly, this entire affair was one for the history books!

Out of all the vampire realms on the planet, The Central and Southern African Vampire Realm was a complete mystery. Few if any foreign vampires knew a vampire from that realm personally. Honestly, only the Royal Bimnono Clan members would appear on the worldwide stage from time to time but those appearances were few and far in-between. Queen Bimnono's isolationist policies were extremely strict, and she allowed no outsiders into her realm. And due to the fact that Queen Bimnono's actual age and power weren't really known, no one wanted to challenge her practices.

Senri wasn't about to insult such an important person by not providing her a proper seating arrangement. One should always be wary of what they do not know or understand.

"Almost Lord Shiki!" Dai quickly answered. "It should be completed in seven hours."

_Seven hours?_ Senri thought. That would be near noontime. Was he going to have to stay up the entire day to finish this? Senri pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That's fine." Senri listlessly said. Well, who said earning great amounts of money would be so easy? "What are the details as to when the King and Queen will be arriving?" Senri asked. "I need to finalize the camera arrangement for their initial red carpet entrances to this location and allow the paparazzi and rival press positions to know their allowed positions." He gave out a big sigh.

Honestly, Senri would probably have to postpone all his future naps in the coming weeks. There was still so much to be done! The horror!

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Two: Enlargement **

* * *

**Present**

It was midmorning. As he stood near the exit of his master's private palace with a small black suitcase in hand, Silver Night was slightly bemused by his current appearance.

He was dressed in a basic black suit and a plain white dress shirt that was paired with a thin black tie. His long hair was pulled back into a low braided silver ponytail, and he wore an extremely thick pair of shaded sunglasses.

Silver Night looked exactly like a rudimentary bodyguard.

While Silver was somewhat amused by the entire thing, being dressed in such a way made Silver feel extremely strange and highly uncomfortable. Yet, at the same time, he felt very…delighted. He was dressed like a bodyguard. A bodyguard was a type of protector wasn't it?

_Protect her._ His true self had said.

Silver actually looked the part being dressed this way, and he almost felt like he could actually be one. He could be a protector couldn't he? Don't they say that clothing make the man?

Silver sadly scoffed at himself. While Silver was apt at creating fantasies and dreams as an incomplete person, he understood reality all to clearly.

He was not a protector. He was a destroyer. And, right now, a destroyer was pretending to be a protector. There was a dark irony in this.

Nevertheless, Master Kaname had told him that he was going with him to the divorce proceedings. It wasn't as if such a declaration was unexpected. His master was an emotional wreak once he had discovered that his wife was divorcing him, and Silver had made himself become his master's comforter during his time of need. Of course, Master Kaname would need such a presence during such a difficult personal crisis. But Silver was going to make the most out of this situation. After all, being the comforter to his master during this time would greatly help Silver in his goal in getting the man to finally fall deeply in love with him. Silver felt that he was almost there, but he still needed to give his master that last push. Once his master fell, then Silver knew his life would be secured, and he could focus on his other goals.

After much reflecting, time, and thinking, Silver had decided that he had five goals he needed to complete. With all the latest revelations and movements, Silver decided that he needed to get back into the game. He couldn't just be a sideline character in this unfolding drama. Therefore, he finalized the goals he needed to accomplish in order to make him come out on top in this crisis situation. Goal #1: Get his Master Kaname to fall deeply in love with him. Goal #2: Learn what broke his true self and repair it. Goal #3: Fulfill the newest wish of his true self which was to protect the young Juri – who was like the woman whom his true self had once failed. Goal #4: Cultivate a key relationship with the young Haruka. Goal #5: Learn who his master's wife was. He wanted to put an actual face and name to the mystery woman.

Therefore, while this divorce proceeding would be a terrible time for his master, Silver knew that it presented him a great many opportunities. He could focus on the current crisis and manipulate it to the benefit of his five new goals.

Silver knew from past experiences that divorces were always full of great emotional storms on all who was involved or connected to it. The couple in question, their children, their family and friends and associates – all who knew the dividing couple would be affected by such a thing. Nevertheless, whatever the reason for it, divorces were, in a basic sense, a severe loss.

Loss.

Silver knew that his master's greatest fear involved loss. Now, what type of loss his master feared the most still remains to be seen. However, Silver was slowly starting to bet that the type of loss his master feared the most was of people and of his intimate relationships.

Silver knew that his master was not about to let his wife get away from him. And Silver was very curious as to how he was going to accomplish that.

However, Silver also assumed that the reason that his master wanted him, there was because he needed emotional support during this trying time period of his life. It wasn't as if Silver hadn't positioned himself to be the perfect ideal lover, thus he was the perfect being to be at his master's side during all this. His presence during this event was actual a very predictable guess.

Still, Silver was very excited. During this event, he would finally be able to see who exactly this mysterious wife of his master was! He was extremely curious as to who the woman was. There had been no pictures of the woman at all in his master's palace and Silver was getting the feeling that such things had been removed. He wasn't sure of it, but it almost felt like his master really did not want Silver to know who his wife was. It almost seemed to him that Silver wasn't supposed to know who she was.

How strange.

Well, in a way, it wasn't. His master did not want his existence to be known by others it seems. Not even by his own children! Silver had the strangest of gut feelings that if Haruka and Juri had not forced their way into Silver's life, his master would have preferred for him not to know or even see them. It was almost as if Silver was something that Master Kaname had decided was only for himself. He didn't seem to want Silver to have or know or focus on any other person besides his master, and Silver would have to respect such a possessively intense desire.

Failure to not do so could result in his death.

Nevertheless, Silver Night felt that he was something like a caged mechanical nightingale because of this.

Silver's lips twitched at the image.

Silver Night – the Caged Mechanical Nightingale. It was another useless new title to his existence and being.

But his true self was a protector-type person.

A protector.

Protectors were supposed to be strong, weren't they? They were noble and whole and strong creatures. Protectors were probably free to do as they wished, and they were loyal to all those worthy of their loyalty. Protectors were strong-willed, sturdy, resilient, and solid. Protectors were like modern-day knights.

The young Princess Juri called him a knight.

There was a soft feeling in his chest because of it. Juri called him a knight. Haruka called him a bodyguard. Knight, Bodyguard, Protector – these words did not describe the real him at all.

Why did those children view him so highly? Well, Juri did because she believed he was her father's bodyguard. Silver felt that he should correct the young girl in her line of thinking because it was obvious to him that she was developing a naïve young crush on him. He recognized the signs – the happy glow in the eyes, the easily blushing cheeks, the slight nervous stammers when she looked at him directly in the eye – Silver knew she liked him in a young and innocently girlish sort of way.

The feeling was…_nice_.

To be looked upon as a real person who did noble things like protect a person was a nice feeling.

But to his sadness, the feeling would not last. Sooner or later, the young Juri would have to know that Silver was not a bodyguard to her father, but her father's Doll.

Silver Night was The King's Doll.

Therefore, knowing how curious the girl was, she would try to figure out what a Doll was if she didn't know already, and perhaps her cheerful and glowing eyes will turn to complete disgust and repulsion at the mere sight of him. Or worst, he would see a lustful desire to possess him. When the young Juri found out what he actually was, Silver would much prefer her hatred over her desire.

Still, Silver was not looking forward to that day when it happened. He knew that it would _hurt_. It would hurt him _deeply_ when he lost that trusting and honest gaze of hers.

However, even if it _was_ reckless and stupid, Silver wanted to be seen as a bodyguard, knight, or any protector figure of goodness to the young Juri as long as he possibly could. Such light experiences and emotions were rare for Silver to feel. And he felt much of these somewhat positive emotions when he interacted with the two children of his master.

Yet Haruka was the one who Silver wasn't entirely sure about at this moment. The boy knew what he actually was and what he and his father did behind closed quarters. The fact that his mother and father were getting a divorce would most likely enrage and hurt the young male child. After all, Silver was the person who was 'having an affair' with his father. Haruka was an intelligent young man, but he lacked true-life experiences – especially when it comes to such intense personal matters.

Silver darkly mused. Probably the next time the young Haruka saw him, Silver might get another punch in the face.

Without any warning, his Master Kaname suddenly appeared in the grand hallway exit. His master wore a dark-blue luxury business suit with white gloves and expensive dress shoes. His medium-length dark-brown hair was neatly arranged around his face, and his face was completely expressionless. Silver tried not to worry what was behind that expressionless gaze, but he couldn't help himself. His master was both a figure of both ultimate power and pleasure to him. Silver's survival instincts were too well honed not to try to understand all the oddities in his master.

Behind him was Butler Rio, who was strangely holding two suitcases and who was dressed in a comfortable travel outfit. Silver was amazed. Butler Rio was going as well?

When his master stood before him, he looked over at him briefly. "For now, please pretend to be my bodyguard. I do not want the world to know that you are mine, Silver."

Silver blinked at the odd command, but then he forced a light smile to his lips. "Of course, my master." Silver smoothly bowed. "Any wish of yours will be my desire." Silver could feel Butler Rio's eyes on him. Silver suddenly realized that the man had never really seen him and his master interact with each other despite the months of Silver being here.

Still, Silver's smile had a shade of dark humor to it. He did not interact with the real vampire world for quite a while. In a way, the last few months in this palace was something like an isolated island. However, Silver would quickly adjust. He always did.

But to have the vampire world learn that Far Eastern Vampire King had him?

My, my, wouldn't the press and his various fan sites have quite the field day if they learned it?

"We will pick up Juri at her private palace." His master tonelessly said. "Let us go."

And Silver followed after him.

* * *

Hanabusa Aido was a cynical and distrusting man.

First, his mother died when he was a young child. Then, the lord and king he served with all the faith he could muster in his youth had killed his father right in front of him. And last, when he had become his own man, he lost the first woman he really and honestly liked to an always-smiling idiot.

So, was it really surprising that Hanabusa Aido, The Don Juan of Japan, had trust issues?

Honestly, Hanabusa probably lived the life that most humans stupidly believed that all vampires lived. He had power (In fact, he was probably the fourth most powerful person in this realm). He had money (Being a genius and noble from one of the oldest vampire lines was a great perk). And he had women (Countless women and loads of sex actually. Anything that one could think of doing in the bedroom, Hanabusa probably already tried it and could probably one up you.)

Hanabusa had all the sex, all the money, and all the power one could want.

So, why did he still have no peace?

He sighed to himself.

Hanabusa lightly ambled out The Red Wing Building of The Imperial Hotel. He had decided that he would be lazy and just have the American Ambassador stay in the same place that Kaname-sama would be staying at, and he'd informed Akatsuki of his choice. The red-haired man seemed to want to hit him for his lazy attitude and then calmly announced that there were no more rooms in the Red Building for the Ambassador. Hanabusa didn't see why that was the case, and now he had to go talk to the Old Maid Lesbian about this assigned task from Kaname-sama.

Akastuki was responsible of the security for The Red Wing Building of the Imperial Hotel, while Seiren was in charge of the security of The White Wing Building of the Imperial Hotel. And while Hanabusa should have expected it, the security detail that was being organized by the two was completely out of this world.

All humans had been forced out the expensive hotel, and the staff had all been replaced with low level vampires. Nobles from around the country were booking their rooms here, but the first three top floors of both main hotel buildings would not be allowed to be book by anyone.

The first three floors of their respective buildings would belong entirely to the King and Queen for the duration of their stay. Hanabusa had a feeling that the two commanders did this because they didn't want any innocent bystanders to get hurt by either of the two splitting purebloods. Hanabusa wanted to smirk at that. Since when did precautions keep innocent bystanders safe from a pureblood's whims?

But as soon as Hanabusa stepped outside into the currently empty courtyard, he saw the Old Maid and the Ice Witch.

Ah. His life was looking up for a moment.

"Aye, Old Maid Lesbian!" Hanabusa lightly greeted Seiren as Ruka darkly glared at him. He ignored the ice witch. "I need to know if there are any available rooms for the American Ambassador in the White Building."

"Ah, Ruka." Seiren's dark silver eyes flashed. "Do you hear that strange barking? It seemed to be coming from some flea-bitten used-up dog. Can you go quiet it for me?"

Hanabusa smirked. The purple-haired woman could insult him quite well. "All pleasurable greetings aside, is there space in the White Building for that guy?"

Seiren sighed and pressed her lips. The single men whom she knew (Hanabusa, Yoshiro, etc.) all treated her like she was some kind of wet blanket. Honestly, why was it that all the good men were taken? Takuma, Akatsuki, and even Senri were all off the markets! She was the only single woman of the inner council group, and she didn't want to be grouped in with the likes of this rude fool!

Still, she had her duties. "Yes. There is." She tightly said. "You can speak with my second-assistant, Osamu Tanaka, for the exact rooms available in the White Building."

Hanabusa stared. "Can't you be a little _nicer_ to me and just _do_ it _for_ me?" He complained. "I don't want to _walk_ all the way there!"

Seiren's lips could squeeze blood out of stones. Such a slothful and worthless man Hanabusa was! "Go do what you were assigned to do, you lazy man!"

"_Chill_, you frigid old virgin." Hanabusa lazily drawled. "If you're like this to such a glorious male figure like myself, of all people, it isn't any wonder your bedside is always so cold. If you were nicer, I _could_ give you something to _smile_ about, you know." He wiggled his blond eyebrows.

Ruka seemed to chock on her tongue, and Seiren was left absolutely speechless. Smirking, Hanabusa sauntered off. Annoying those women, especially the purple-haired woman, always made Hanabusa feel better about his life in general.

* * *

As Ruka watched her cousin-in-law walk away, something about what he said brought up something had she'd been pondering about for quite some time in regard to her currently speechless friend. As long as she had known Seiren, she knew that Seiren was always alone and working. The woman was the worst of workaholics in the inner circle to put it mildly. She focused on everyone and everything else but herself, and Ruka didn't think that was healthy. Seiren should have someone for herself! Especially now! If a strong couple like Kaname and Yuki could be breaking up, then how sure was she that Seiren would find someone? Seiren was the type to justify her singlehood by pointing to such examples!

Ruka gave her friend a sighing stare. She knew Seiren wasn't about to like what she was going to say, but it needed to be said. "That player and destroyer of womanly virtue has a point, Seiren." Ruka sighed. "I have Akatuski. Rima has Senri. Yuki has...her children. Don't _you_ want someone for yourself?"

"I don't want someone just to have someone!" The army woman shot back.

"But Seiren! How can you not? Haven't you ever liked someone?" Ruka quietly asked. "It doesn't even have to be a _man_! Times have change! You could _explore_...other avenues!" The Ice Queen proclaimed.

Seiren stared and then mentally cursed. Why did people think she was a lesbian just because she didn't have a man? What's wrong with being a single woman anyways? It's not like it's a disease!

Seiren was comfortable being single. Very comfortable with it. After all, with men like Hanabusa, who would want such drama in their life? Still, she wasn't a freak. She had liked one person, but such a thing was..._embarrassing_...and having a crush was so..._unlike_ her.

"I did like someone once." Seiren said, but Ruka stared at her in shocked disbelief. "He was strong and loyal." Seiren defended herself. "But there was no chance for us to even begin to have a relationship, and I'm not really concerned about things like that right now."

Ruka blinked at her. _What?_ Suddenly, the Ice Queen transformed into a gushing warm school girl. Seiren was very unsettled by the quick transformation.

"You once liked someone?" Ruka loudly gasped. "As in like _like_ someone?" Ruka was completely surprised. "Since when?" Seiren liked someone? Her Seiren? Her always doing a job and not having a life of her own _Seiren_? _That_ Seiren liked someone who was a _man_ someone? Ruka couldn't resist! She had to know. By darkness, who was _that person that Seiren had liked?_

"Who was it?" Ruka's brown eyes flashed with predatory curiosity.

"He died a long time ago. It's best not to –" Seiren immediately recognized that look, and she wasn't going to tell! Seiren would die of embarrassment if Ruka, of all people, knew. She kept it to herself for so long.

However, Ruka would not be stopped. "Who?" She asked again.

Seiren stood firm, but her stance was crumbling. "I said, it's best not to –"

"Who?" Ruka grabbed her shoulders and looked at her in the eyes with a strange hungry glow.

How scary.

Seiren tried once again. "You are beginning to sound like an owl." She tried to deflect.

"Who?" Ruka won't allow her quiet friend to get out of this!

Seiren just gave up. "The late Zero Kiryu." Seiren tiredly spat out. Damn, Ruka. When she wanted to be she could be extremely persistent and -

Seiren lost her train of thought when she noticed that Ruka was staring at her for one long breathless and unbelievable moment.

"You once liked…" Ruka shirked. "YUKI'S HUNTER?"

"Don't say that so loudly!" Seiren for once in her life blushed bright red. "He was strong, loyal, and dependable. I like those traits in a man." So, what if he was a hunter? He was loyal and protected what he held dear. Even if he was risking much, he was a very good person! Seiren was entitled to have a small crush if she kept such a thing secret!

Which she didn't.

Wow.

Was her resolve that weak lately?

"But the HUNTER?" Ruka felt like she was just hit by a bus with these newest set of revelations. First, Seiren once liked someone. That someone was a man. That man was Zero Kiryu. Zero Kiryu was Yuki's late fiancée and vampire hunter.

Strangely, Ruka tried to _picture_ Seiren and Zero together as a couple…

That was so weird!

The embarrassed blush on Seiren's face didn't go away. "I would have never told him!" Seiren defended herself. "The king did not like him and he obviously like the queen, so I would have never done anything."

Ruka knew that was true. Seiren really wouldn't have done anything but still, "YOU ONCE LIKE YUKI'S HUNTER, SEIREN?"

"If you keep repeating that, I'm not going to talk to you ever again, Ruka." Seiren scowled. She'll never live this down. Stupid Ruka! Couldn't she just be her natural Ice Queen self and pretend to not really care about such things!

By darkness, Seiren felt she was going to die with a blushing red face.

* * *

The Wadaura Port was located 50 miles southeast of central Tokyo.

Sosono and her rebel allies stepped out of her private but non-descriptive yacht. Underneath her sunglasses, she smiled as the black hove limo that was speedy coming to her that would escort her to the Imperial Hotel. Due to the massive traffic, it would take them nearly seven hours, to get the Korean pureblood rebels to their final destination.

She closed her eyes and called forth ten of her flight familiars – they were in the shape of the lowly gray pigeon. When Sosono was young, she had despised the fact that her familiars were so low class and common in the past. However, in this new time in the world, she came to realize the value of such things.

Ah, the lowly pigeon. Who would think a pureblood could spy on her enemies with such common creatures?

While bats, crows, and wolves were lovely creatures, to have such things spy for you in this modern world was quite difficult. Wolves were practically gone from Japan. Bats would seem out-of-place in a city, and crows were so obvious.

Sosono had grown to like her plain bird familiars more and more as the new days passed. She looked at her familiars and said, "Pay attention to the Royal Family and all personnel with them. I want to know who is with each faction and which child is with which parent." She commanded. The ten familiar birds immediately flew away to do their assigned tasks.

"Oh, what wonderful opportunities lay ahead!" Sosono smirked to herself.

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** Ha ha! I voted yesterday! Three cheers for elections! XD I'm updating this early because I won't be able to post later today if I don't! XD (I'm breaking my own rules. -_-') **Anyway, thanks for reading! And please leave a lovely review – short or long I love them all! :3 **


	44. Chapter 43 Countdown

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**Present**

Kai Ryunei loved his job. He really, really loved it.

He was the number one personal executive assistant to the Vampire King of the Far Eastern Realm. As a noble vampire from a relatively low class family clan, Kai knew that if he had not worked three times harder than other upper nobility members, he would not have gotten to where he was. Therefore, Kai wasn't about to do anything that would cause him to lose his beloved job. If his King and Boss told him to jump, Kai was the type of person to ask how high, where to, and which leg he should use.

So, while he'd been called every awful name one could think of, Kai didn't really care because at the end of the day, his position commanded great (_really great_) respect in this realm.

However, it also carried a lot of 'unbecoming' types of tasks and duties.

And such an unbecoming type of duty was what he was now going to do.

His Pureblood Vampire King, Kaname Kuran, privately commanded Kai to find a way to delay his first divorce session by at least two hours. So instead of it starting tonight at 8 PM like it was scheduled, the King wanted it to be started at 10 PM.

That was completely confusing to Kai and he had no idea why his King wanted something like this. Kai would have thought the King would want a way to stop the entire thing completely, but no, his king simply wanted the event to be delayed by two hours.

How strange.

But Kai was not about to question his King's command though. Whatever his King Boss wanted, Kai was going to do it. So after a few days of planning, research, and thinking about it, Kai had found a way to delay the first council session by at least two hours.

Kai felt a bit bad for what he was about to do to Lord Senri, but better him than Kai..._right_?

It was noontime, and the sun was at its hottest. The vampire workers who were inside the Golden Flower Conference Room were moving slower than usual because of their intense sleepiness. However, the sleepiest of them all was the currently nodding off Dark Lord of Vampire Media and Inner Circle Member, Lord Senri Shiki, who was sitting at the master control media station located in the shield off balcony of the massive conference room. Below him were two expensive pieces of video recording equipment of Shikian Media – two 3 million dollar 450-Model 3D Hologram Video Camcorders. If he were to destroy those two pieces of equipment, Kai knew that the first session divorce proceeding between King Kuran and Queen Kuran would be greatly delayed by a few hours, but...it would not be stopped because of it – Lord Senri was a resourceful man after all.

So Kai Ryunei, Far Eastern Realm's #1 Personal Executive Assistant, marched right up to the nodding off man and started his unbecoming-yet-commanded-by-the-king task.

"Lord Senri!" Kai growled. The nodding off man jumped slightly in his chair. "I have it under suspicion that you are shaping the public opinion against the King! I am going to inform the King of your traitorous actions if you continue!" He snappily accused.

Immediate understanding of who Kai was seemed to hit the man, but then Lord Senri rapidly blinked his blue eyes, and he stared at Kai listlessly. "I have no idea what you are talking about." The man rudely yawned.

Kai's eyebrow twitched. Hina did warn him that Lord Senri was difficult to deal with.

"Hina Ajibana has proven to me that you are showing bias programming propaganda on your television station VNN." Kai snapped. "That's unacceptable! And I want those shows off your network now!"

_Hina Ajibana?_ Senri mentally swore. _Of course! That blasted woman._ As his only rival in the Far Eastern Media Sphere, Hina Ajibana and he had never gotten along. Of course she would try to impede his ratings and success! Senri felt like poking out the envious woman's eyes!

But fortunately, due to years of image training practice, Senri could keep his sleepy calm facial mask in place. "I don't have time to listen to your baseless suspicions." Senri told Kai, who he had _always_ thought of as Kaname's Number One Butt-Kisser.

Kai Ryueni mentally crowed. _**Good!** _Lord Senri's focus was completely on him now. He marched closer towards the Dark Lord of Vampire Media and continued to glare at him. Right underneath them were the two expensive three million dollar professional video camcorders.

**_Perfect_**. Now, no one would suspect his next actions.

"Baseless accusation?" Kai yelled at the man. "Your program, _The Road to Divorce_, highlights all sorts of minor failings in the King's marriage! Such things should not be displayed to the public, especially at this time! Those past events should be kept private! You have completely disrespected the King by showing such a disgraceful program to the world at large!"

Senri mentally swore again. _Damn this little butt-kisser!_ "Everything in that program is publicly known! It's not like I've been –" Senri started to defend himself.

However, as Kai angrily pretended to listen to what the Dark Lord of Vampire Media was saying, he used his power of object movement telekinesis to rip up and push the two expensive camcorders off their designated platforms.

**CRASH.**

There was a chilling silence in the room as all the busy workers in the Golden Flower Conference Room watched in shocked dismay as the two main camcorders were broken into many different pieces. Kai also pretended to be quite shocked at the event, but inwardly he was crowing with victory. "What in the world was that noise?" Kai gasped in false shock at the awful sound.

Senri Shiki ripped his attention away from the butt-kisser and looked down from his balcony position to see what exactly had caused that noise. To his utter horror, he saw that his two primary pieces of equipment - two 450-Model 3D Hologram Video Camcorders - that cost him three million dollars _each_, were _now_ three million pieces of _junk_.

Senri stared to vociferously curse.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Three: Countdown**

* * *

**Present**

Yuki Kuran looked at her young son.

Prince Haruka was sitting beside her in their private hover limo. In less than twenty minutes, they would arrive at the White Building of The Imperial Hotel. Seiren had informed her by phone call that her rooms on the top floor were ready, that Juri was coming with her father, and that Kaname had not yet arrived to his hotel accommodations as of yet.

Yuki smiled sadly to herself. While she knew her daughter probably did not have such an intention, it felt like Juri was siding with Kaname against her. It wasn't a nice feeling to feel. However, perhaps she should have expected it. Juri's and Kaname's father- daughter bond was extremely strong. And Yuki had not been able to really explain to her daughter why she was doing this. Perhaps if Yuki had told Juri her reasons sooner, then this entire situation wouldn't have gotten so bad.

_"I hate you, mama! I hate you!"_

Even after all this time, those words still hurt so much.

But by all that is dark, what was she going to do about it now? Juri had left her without giving Yuki a chance to explain herself and now the girl was with her father. Yuki was very conflicted. She wanted to **_hurt_ **Kaname. She wanted to hurt that monster so much that her blood screamed. But Yuki knew that the relationship between father and daughter was something that she had no right to try to destroy, even if a dark part of Yuki really wanted to destroy it. Nevertheless, Yuki knew that if she even tried, she would probably end up enraging Juri more and thus give Kaname an upper hand against _her_ mother-daughter relationship with their girl child.

So, at this moment, Yuki had no idea how to fix her relationship with her little girl. In spite of this, Yuki knew that this divorce wouldn't really affect the relationship between Juri and Kaname. The mere fact that Juri was with him almost confirmed this.

It was the relationship between father and son that Yuki knew would be the most affected.

By darkness, Yuki felt like such a failure.

Why was Haruka's and Kaname's father-son bond was so fragile?

Yuki knew the answer. It was more Kaname's fault than Haruka's. Kaname was far too strict with Haruka. Far too strict and far too cold.

In the past, Yuki tried to get Kaname and Haruka to have a normal father-son relationship. But Kaname always thought he was being prefect fine towards the boy. _"I gave him life. I allow him to keep it and live it better than 99.99% of the inhabitants on this planet."_ Kaname would say to dismiss her suggestions. _"If he cannot see my intentions, then he simply needs more training."_

Yuki understood how Kaname saw things and how he deeply cared for their son in his own dark strange sort of way, but she still felt that Kaname was far too strict and sometimes too cruel on their son.

Yuki felt a slight pang in her heart. Haruka really only wanted Kaname's approval. That was all he wanted. You could see it in everything that he did and even how he conducted himself at every waking moment. Despite the fact that her son was sitting beside her, she could see the hidden fatherless pangs in the young teen's life. Yuki felt terrible. She had tried so hard to get Kaname and Haruka to have a normal relationship, and she failed. She failed so badly at it.

Yuki always failed at the important things.

And now with this divorce and her future actions against Kaname, Yuki knew the relationship between father and son would be fractured even more.

_"He is too soft, Yuki."_ Kaname would say. _"Too soft and too gentle."_

_"Kindness and pity? Kindness and pity! That young fool!"_ Kaname had once raged when Haruka had failed to live up to his stupidly high expectations. _"Kindness and pity have no place in a future pureblood vampire ruler! He will destroy everything with that weakness!_"

Yuki remembered that she had once told Kaname that he was far too cruel on their son.

His response?

Kaname completely dismissed her. _"Do you think I'm cruel, Yuki? Nonsense. My supposed harshness is a warm breeze when compared with the nightfall world's icy-wind cruelty. If he doesn't learn to be strong and keep power, he'll lose everything that is of value. Everything! I will not allow a child of mine to be weak and powerless!"_

Honestly, even though Yuki now hated Kaname with every fiber of her being, she understood Kaname's reasons and true intentions perfectly.

She just didn't agree with him.

Yuki had a sudden strange thought. What if Zero had been Haruka's father?

Yuki suddenly couldn't breathe.

If..._if_ Zero had been Haruka's father, Haruka would have had a better life. And that's all what Yuki really wanted for her son, for her two children. She wanted them to have safe and happy lives.

_Zero smirked. "Boys are too rebellious. Plus a boy with my stubbornness and your cluelessness would be a disaster."_

Yuki's heart suddenly bled.

Zero said that he wanted their first child to be a girl. He wanted a girl. Because they were supposedly easier to deal with. (HA! That obviously shows how little Zero knew about women.) But knowing Zero, he would have been perfectly happy if their first child had ended up being a boy. Zero probably only said that to tease her that marvelous day so long ago. Zero would have been a great father.

By all that is good, Zero would have been the prefect father.

Zero was kind, gentle, fast-moving, and hands-on. Zero would have been strict, but he would have showered his child with so much love that his discipline would never really sting. If Zero had been Haruka's father, Haruka would have been so much happier. So much more and Haruka would have absolutely blossomed under Zero's gentle fatherly care.

Any child would have, really. Zero would love any child of his no matter what and she –

She could have had a child by Zero but she –

Yuki felt small tears forming in her dark-brown eyes.

She had -

"Mother!" Haruka's attention snapped to her. He smelt her tears. "Mother, what is wrong?" Haruka was slightly panicking. Tears! A woman's deadliest of weapons! What does a man do when their mother cries? Why did he have no one to teach him these kinds of things? What should he do?

Yuki looked upon her son. He looked so similar to Kaname that it was quite uncanny. But Haruka's personality reminded her so much like Zero's. So much. Haruka was so gentle, so protective, and so...so..._not_-Kaname-like and sometimes when she talked to Haruka she would forget she was talking to her son, and she would think she was talking to Zero and then when she would remember that she _wasn't_ talking to him, she would get so sad and -

Yuki looked at her son in the eyes and without thinking said, "You would have been so much happier if you had another father, no?" She said on the verge of tears. "Or an elder brother, right?" She looked at him with a deep-level of sorrow that only those who knew what loss was could feel.

_If only..._

Haruka blinked. _What kind of question was that?_ He wondered. If he had another father would his life be better? Sure! Probably. Then again, Haruka believed a wild duck would be a better father to him than the one Haruka had. So, really, what can you say to something like that? But it wasn't like Haruka could change who his father was anyway. Stuff like that you shouldn't really think about because then you would get all sad and be so pathetic.

But an elder brother?

Haruka wasn't so sure about that. If he had an elder brother, wouldn't father completely ignore him then? If father had another son, Haruka was sure that son would be the perfect one and thus his father would probably have ignored Haruka completely. Haruka felt a bit torn thinking this. On the one hand, having an elder brother would free Haruka from the crushing expectations of his father, but on the other hand, having an elder brother would probably mean that his father would find him even less worthy to deal with it.

So, he could either be completely ignored or be completely worthless to his father.

Haruka wasn't sure what to think about it. And he could only stare at his mother.

_What a strange question for mother to ask._ Haruka thought to himself.

But suddenly, Yuki's mind suddenly become aware of itself. What in the world was she doing?

She and Haruka were about to step out into the public and the media hounds would be flashing tons of pin-pointed pictures and asking her millions of questions. She had to look like a capable and powerful queen if her future plans were going to work! But no, one little thought about Zero and other impossible things and she nearly ruins everything. She was such an idiot! A stupid, stupid, stupid little girl!

Yuki looked at her son. She knew that she would have to explain herself in court about why she was doing this, but...if only..._if only_...**if only**...

But reality couldn't be ignored.

Kaname was Haruka's father.

Haruka was Kaname's son.

Zero was forever taken from her.

And Yuki had killed their little one.

_If only..._

Yuki felt her mind distance herself from her world's reality.

Hide. _Hide_. **Hide**.

Bury. _Bury_. **Bury**.

Don't think of about the past. Don't remember the feelings.

You are a Pureblood Vampire Queen now, Yuki.

You are a Pureblood Vampire Queen and you can get through this, hide this, bury this, and finally make your stupid old ugly self disappear.

A switch was turned on inside her aching and breaking heart.

Yuki Kuran smiled lightly at her son. The action felt like it was taking place very far from where she actually was, but her eyes were completely dry now.

Haruka bent his head to the side in abject confusion. What is it with women? Mother looked like she was about to cry a second ago, but at least now mother was lightly smiling at him. _Eh?_ What the hell?"I'm just saying odd things because I'm a bit nervous about the red carpet." Haruka watched at his mother's lips were formed a small smile, but her dark-brown eyes... "I didn't mean anything by those words, my pumpkin. I was just thinking stupid things." Mother said.

Yet to Haruka, regardless of her smile, his mother seemed so painfully sad and distant.

Again.

* * *

**Two Hours Later...**

Juri nervously rubbed her hands.

The hover black stretch limo was slowly pulling up to the grand main entrance of the King's Red Building of The Imperial Hotel, and Juri could see hundreds of people, cameras, photographers, and microphones on the red carpet.

By darkness, she wanted to talk to someone - anyone really - to calm her down!

Juri disliked red carpets! She always made a fool of herself on them! And those past events were nowhere near important like what was coming up!

Juri looked at her fellow limo riders. She was sitting in the hover limo with her father, his bodyguard, his Butler, and her servant Mika. Her best friend Fuyumi Kain couldn't come in here with her! Juri was slightly sad at that. It was three to two with the men outnumbering the women in this automobile! And Juri was even further alone in her worries.

Mika would be too scared to talk to her with her father right there but Juri really wanted to talk through her feelings. However, she knew that the three men in the limo with her wouldn't be the best candidates for her to talk to either! Papa was out of it completely! He was lost in his own thoughts! Butler Rio would probably feel the same way as Mika and Silver...

Well, Silver was here and she loved taking to him! Silver always knew the right things to say to make Juri feel safe and warm and fuzzy! Silver was a knight! A real modern-day knight! He could protect. He could comfort. He could listen. He could advise. Silver Night was so perfect! Juri knew she found the impossible! Juri found the perfect man! Silver was just so perfect.

So, Juri could talk with him like she had done so many nights before, but unfortunately, Silver was currently working! _**Rawh!**_ She couldn't bother him with her feelings and needs to talk at this time!

Sighing, Juri looked at her papa. She felt so sorry for him. Father was wearing his expressionless face mask again! Juri hated that false face mask of papa! Papa only wore it when he was trying to hide his deep hurt feelings. Hurt feelings! Her papa was feeling extremely hurt right now! Juri could feel it, even though papa pretended to be so calm and so collected about everything! Juri felt even angrier at her mother! Poor papa. Always hiding his real feelings! She would try to make him be okay though!

Juri was going to fix this!

But in all honesty, how was Juri going to fix this terrible thing between her parents?

She didn't know, but she had to fix it! Juri was the only one who could! Haruka pretended not to care for papa and would try to pretend the divorce didn't matter, but Juri knew that wasn't Haruka's true feelings! Haruka obviously loved papa, just like she. However, Juri knew that papa was far stricter on Haruka then he was on her. Sometimes, that fact made Juri feel guilty, so she would try to make Haruka relax when she could, but Juri also knew papa was hard on Haruka because Haruka would one day be the future king! A king is a tough responsibility, you know! It had to be because papa was a king, and papa didn't get to relax or have fun or even really smile a lot!

So, papa was trying his best! He really was! Juri knew it.

But Juri was still a weird bundle of nervousness!

By darkness, she hoped she didn't make a fool of herself during all this!

* * *

It was late afternoon, and the Gray Panther was packed to capacity for once in its long life.

Every hunter eye in the place was glued to the black television screen that was showcasing the arrivals of the Queen and King of the Far Eastern Vampire Realm and their ensembles to The Imperial Hotel.

The Gray Panther wasn't too far away from The Imperial's Golden Flower Conference Room, so Kaien, Toga, Kaito, and Kagome were simply waiting for nightfall to come before they headed over there. Four human vampire hunters were going to be surrounded by hundreds of vampire aristocracy members.

_Really._ Toga thought sarcastically to himself. _What could possibly go wrong?_

But still, this First Court Session between King Kuran and Queen Yuki was turning into something more like a movie premiere, then a divorce proceeding. Toga and the hunters had all watched as various dignitaries from all walk of the Far Eastern vampire realm came for the red carpet event. _Damn vampires!_ Toga thought to himself. _They always make their lives be damn melodramas!_

However, when Queen Yuki arrived on the red carpet less than two hours ago, the media when crazy.

Flashes of light, microphones, yelling of encouragements, and screams of dismay created a crash of noise that Toga felt was giving him a headache, and it wasn't even him it was happening too! Even so, Queen Yuki had walked through that red sea of media wolves with an air of queenly dignity and style that really impressed him. Her young son also followed her lead nicely. Yuki was dressed in a floating black and gray long dress, and her face was beautifully but cosmetically painted with the eye shadow colors of gray and black. Wow. Those colors on her really did give her presence an artistically dramatic but intimidating flare, in Toga's bad fashion opinion.

Queen Yuki answered questions calmly and softly, but like a typical politician, she gave nothing away.

After the Queen had gone into the hotel, the media had died down and calmly resumed announcing the other dignitaries present who would be attending this event in person.

Toga wanted to roll his blue eye. As the only four humans going to that blasted death ground, they would have to walk that cursed carpet too. After all, the presence of hunters was sure to rub those night bastards the wrong way and Toga wasn't about to deal with some noble vampire bullshit tonight. However, the four of them had agreed that it would be best if they all show up after the Royals arrival. It was safer option and Toga was all for safer options.

But after about two hours, the King's black limo was pulling up to its red carpet. If the Queen's arrival turned the media personnel into wolves, now they favored piranhas. Toga rubbed his winkled forehead. Honestly, all of this was completely ridiculous.

The limo door opened, and Toga's blue eye narrowed. An unknown man was the first to get out of the king's black hover limo. He was wearing a nice black suit and thick sunglasses. His hair was in a long tight silver braid. He moved to the side of the limo and held it out for the next person to get out of the car.

Toga's mind whirled. That unknown man moved with a strangely _familiar_ grace...

For some unexplained reason, Toga's old heart suddenly tightened and his gut twisted when he again looked at the unknown man.

What in the world?

But before Toga could focus on the feeling, the camera angle instantly changed and focused on the next figure coming out of that limo - King Kuran. _Ah, just look at that pureblooded kingly bastard._

King Kuran's face was completely expressionless, but that didn't at all distract from his immense presence. The crowd around the limo and on the red carpet looked at the king in breathless awe as the extremely handsome pureblood vampire king calmly stepped out of his limo and onto the red carpet. His dark-blue luxury suit was a sharp contrast against the red carpet background.

Like a hungry but somewhat frightened group of piranhas, the paparazzi and press assaulted the man with random questions. King Kuran spoke with them calmly, but Toga was barely listening to the man's answers. He wanted another look at that unknown black suit man again. He seemed _strangely_ familiar...

The television angle changed again as the young princess stepped out of the hover limo. She looked like a ball of nervousness and the paparazzi when even wilder. _Finally_ a royal family member who gave them some type of emotion rather than emotionless boredom!

Toga felt a small wave of pity for the young girl. Her dark-brown eyes looked exactly like a young-deer-in-the-headlights as all the cameras and flashes of light came upon her.

But the girl wasn't watching where she was going, and she wasn't careful with the placement of her feet. Toga had a sudden feeling of dread. But before he could verbalize the bad emotion, he watched, almost like he was watching her in slow motion, as the young princess tripped over her feet.

She tripped over her own feet...on the red carpet..._that was a live show_...**and that was being broadcasted around the world.**

Toga's wave of pity for the child was deepening. It seemed like the young teen girl had lost her balance, and she was doomed to fall right on her face! To fall on one's face during such a high-society event was sure to traumatize the teen for the rest of her life!

But in a completely unexpected move, in an instant, the sunglasses-wearing bodyguard snatched the young princess up and held her gently in his arms before the young vampire teen girl fell upon her face on the red carpet. His loosen long silver hair flowed around him and the girl like dancing feathers and snowflakes. He steadied the girl and held her close against his chest.

The vampire paparazzi became a feral flash of camera lights. Lights were erupting like a lightning storm around the two, but the unknown man seemed completely undeterred by the rapt attention.

Toga saw the man whisper something in the young girl's ear, and the princess blushed an even more shocking red color. Toga saw the man quickly look at King Kuran as if asking for permission to go inside before him, and King Kuran gave him a slight nod with his head showing his agreement. Then the man gently held her hand and escorted the young girl safety and smoothly into the hotel's entrance.

_What quick reflexes!_ Toga thought. Sure, vampires were typically faster than the average human, but that man...that man's reflexes were quite unusual but strangely familiar. Even the way the man smoothly walked and move was _just_ like –

Toga blinked his blue eye. Then he rubbed his forehead. _Damn old age!_ If you lived long enough, surely every new thing would remand you of the past.

Once the young girl and unknown man was inside the hotel, King Kuran was assaulted again with renewed media attention. Questions like: How did he feel about this event, what was he going to do about this event, and who was that unknown man - was thrown at the vampire king like missiles.

Toga was quite surprised by King Kuran's ability to seem so calm and peaceful at their actions. However, Toga knew, he knew with a bone-deep assurance, that that _peaceful_ look was a dark lie from hell. King Kuran couldn't be so calm on the inside. A bastard with such mythical ego and power wouldn't be so calm in the face of what was something of a personal mutiny against him. But after a few minutes, the vampire king was able to finish what he was saying and he then calmly walked into the hotel.

Toga felt strange.

For some reason, Toga's mind had one question in his mind. That question was – _Who_ was that unknown black suit man with the long-silver ponytail? **No.** The real question was - _Why was he so similar too –_

_No._ Toga reasoned to himself. Just because the man has silver hair (_**He** _would always keep his hair short!) and move in such a _similar_ way, doesn't give Toga the right to _jump _to ridiculous thoughts. Honestly, was this what they called dementia?

Still, Toga felt like he was slowly losing his mind.

Why was his old heart acting up?

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Hey, my precious readers! I've been sick recently, so I'm so sorry about not updating earlier or on time! ;_; Anyway, the official countdown to the divorce session begins now! XD I believe it will start in two (or three, I'm not quite sure) chapters! However, both of Yuki's and Kaname's pre-plans for this event are starting it seems. :3 And also Sosono's, Edwards's, and...various others! XD My, my, don't we all wonder what will happen? :D **Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long – I love them all!**


	45. Chapter 44 Gifts

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

The engagement party of Zero and Yuki was shocked into complete disbelief and silence.

Senri Shiki was lightly napping in the corner apparently oblivious to what was going on around him. Takuma Ichijo looked like an owl. Akatsuki Kain sighed in utter mortification at being related to such a pervert. Seiren's lips were twisting with sharp disapproval at Hanabusa. Ruka Souen looked like she was on the verge of fainting. And Kaname Kuran was rapidly blinking his eyes.

Zero snappily closed Hanabusa's engagement gift to the two of them and tried to hide his red face of embarrassed shame behind his opened palm hand.

The only person who had a non-shocked reaction was Rima Touya. She raised one of her brown eyebrows and smirked to all present. "I prefer Batman myself." She wirily said.

Zero stared at her in total incredulity, and Yuki was still too flabbergasted to even comment. By the Sword of Blood! _What the hell man?_ The sheer level of Hanabusa's depravity was far too scary. By all that is good, Zero never knew that the blond-haired blue-eyed noble didn't know such a thing as shame.

Who the hell gives sex dress-up costumes to a new couple at their engagement party? Zero had opened up their gift from Hanabusa and found a _Superman_ costume for him and a _Wonder Woman_ outfit for Yuki!

What. _the_. **hell? **

And the blond idiot wasn't even slightly ashamed by his gag gift. Look at that frank smirk of his! There was no way Zero would allow the noble blond vampire to plan his bachelor party! Zero would sooner walk on blue fire then allow such a travesty to befall him again! Everyone in the room was now blushing a dark crimson hue! Even Seiren! _What in the world was wrong with the blond idiot?_

Nevertheless, Toga, being one of the three 'real' adults here, broke the silence. "Okay." He nipped the moment. "Moving right along." He drily said. "Now...let's see what these two love birds gave each other." He slickly said, but one could see that he was deeply amused. There was a leering twist to his lips as he watched his student-son blush at such an outrageous gift.

Ah, kids. If you can't talk about it, then you probably shouldn't be doing it – if you get Toga's drift.

Zero's clear lavender eyes snapped at his teacher, and then he shook his head. While the embarrassment he felt was slowly edging away due to the older man's bluntness, something in Zero melted at be called a love bird.

Love bird.

While it was corny, Zero's heart felt very warm and dare he say…happy.

Zero and Yuki could now be called love birds.

After Yuki had 'proposed' to him ("Damn it! Marry me, Zero!" Yuki snapped. Her eyes blazing with a strange fire. ), Zero had felt like he had entered nirvana, heaven, and paradise all at the same time.

Yuki wanted to _marry_ him.

Yuki wanted to _marry_ _Zero_.

_Miss Yuki Cross-Kuran_ wanted to _marry Mr. Zero Kiryu_.

Yuki wanted to be _Mrs. Yuki Kiryu._

No matter how many times he twisted the words around, the end result was the same. So, Zero, for once in a very very long time, was _happy_.

Well, not quite just 'happy'.

To say that Zero's heart was just happy would be the gravest of understatements. Zero wasn't just happy. He was 'over the moon', 'leaping for joy', 'on cloud nine', and 'in high spirits'. He wanted to climb the highest mountain and crow to the world and say, _Yuki loves me! Ha! Ha! She loves Zero! Take that world! Take that and shove it where the sun doesn't shine! _

Yuki Cross loves Zero Kiryu! Oh, of all the things that could go right in the world!

Zero felt like tap dancing in the streets or singing in the rain. He felt like telling every unfortunate soul who came across him the good and ecstatic news! Zero and Yuki were a couple. Yes, it was true! Zero and Yuki were in love with each other. Say it again! Zero and Yuki were going to be together forever.

However, Zero had an image to maintain, and he wasn't about to spoil it like acting like a love-struck fool. Zero Kiryu was a hunter. Hunters were stoic people. Therefore, Zero should be stoic. Stoic, yes. Be stoic, Zero. _Be stoic._ You have an image to be maintained, after all. So, you can't go around acting like some type of clueless joyful buffoon. Nope! Zero had to be calm, collected, and serious. _Serious_. Always be serious.

So...why couldn't he stop smiling (or smirking or grinning like an idiot) these past few days?

It was just a fluke of nature, really. Don't mine it at all, folks.

Zero and Yuki announced to all their friends and family members of their intention to get married a few days ago. And if Zero was surprised by the changes in events, it was nothing to the astonishment of everyone else.

Everyone who knew them was shell-shocked at the development.

And Zero meant _everyone_.

Everyone, from noble vampire to vampire hunter to regular human, thought it would have been Yuki and Kaname together in the end after all the problems were over with. Yuki and Kaname. Pureblood and Pureblood. Weren't all the signs leading in that direction?

Everyone knew that Kaname loved Yuki with an intensity that no one could really describe or deny. And Yuki, even when she was a human, seemed to love Kaname equally intensely back.

However, everyone knew that Zero also loved Yuki, whether she was a human or a vampire, Zero _loved_ Yuki.

It was so obvious in the way he looked at Yuki. You could see it when he held her small hand. Or when he listened to her voice. It was a public secret that everyone knew of Zero's true feelings, and everyone had a deep pity for the ex-human hunter because of it. Only Zero and Yuki themselves were totally clueless to the intensity of the feelings around them.

But when Yuki finally made her decision, everyone was completely taken back.

Both of those pairings were so different.

Kaname and Yuki – well, that was expected.

Zero and Yuki - well...that just _perfectly_ _fit_.

If each person were to be honest with themselves, Zero and Yuki simply fit each other better. Despite the differences of pureblood and ex-human, despite the various inner and outer pains, despite the fire and ice personalities, Zero and Yuki fit together so perfectly that no one could deny the rightness of their relationship.

Yuki loved beautiful things. Zero loved practical things.

Zero was collected. Yuki was expressive.

Yuki was like a hot bright light. Zero was like a cooling protective shade.

Zero could cut. Yuki could heal.

In all truth, when one thought about it, Zero and Yuki were a great couple. In fact, one could honestly say that they were the most likely two people to achieve the ultimate goal and wish of every nightfall creature on this planet! Zero and Yuki were an Ideal Matched Pair that could create the prefect Blended Life Dream.

And this little engagement party was Zero's and Yuki's first public declaration of their future happiness together.

It didn't come without problems though. Hanabusa's gag gift was an example, in and of itself.

_Honestly, what type of gift was that?_ Zero scowled at the blond who openly smirked back at him. Damn, vampires! There is such a thing as shame!

However, Yuki had finally come back to herself even though there was still a light blush on her cheeks. She smiled brightly at Zero.

"I've spent a lot of time looking for this!" Yuki said happily. "I hope you like it." She reached under the table and pulled out a small black box.

Zero blinked and then he preceded to open the small gift.

Wow!

It was a pair of earrings.

The earrings were bright silver-gold in color. They sort of looked like small earlobe chokers, but they had delicate leaf design that was fascinating. All in all, it was a very unusual gift to give him. Zero usually got practical gifts. Practical gifts for a practical man, he would say. But this earrings were...nice. No, more than nice...they were beautiful. Beautiful, rare, and really unique.

Zero was oddly _touched_ by it. It seemed so...girly...to give a man as a gift. But Yuki always did say he needed nicer things for himself. She always said that Zero should give himself pretty gifts from time to time. Zero would always roll his eyes and say he preferred practicality over beauty, and then they would mock argue over beauty wants versus living needs, but to have something so.._nice_...well...

Zero knew this small gift of Yuki represented her feelings towards him. To Yuki, Zero was a beautiful, unpretentious, but extremely rare soul. He understood her message, and he was warmed by it.

"Well? Let us now see the thing this guy got her!" Hanabusa growled out, ruining the entire moment.

Zero glared at him. _This guy!_ Zero shook his head again.

Well, Zero did also get Yuki a great gift as well! He was quite proud of his good thinking and choice on it!

He reached under the small table and pulled out a gift-wrapped box. Zero had spent much time thinking about the perfect gift he could give his future wife. He wanted to give her a gift that represented all his true feelings and thoughts towards her, but was uniquely him. He also wanted a gift that she could use and that could be with her every day. So, Zero thought and thought and thought, and finally, he figured out the perfect gift he could give to the woman he loved the most.

"Here you go, Yuki." Zero smiled at her as he handed her a large and heavy box. "It's called The Crimson Thorne."

Yuki blinked at him and then quickly opened up Zero's gift to her.

Yuki's dark-brown eyes flickered, and a small smile took over her lips. Unexpectedly, she held up the present for all in the room to see Zero's special engagement gift to her. Upon immediately seeing it, they all turned as one to stare at Zero in stark incredulity.

And the always-detached Toga, _of all people_, started to _loudly_ snicker.

"What?" Zero held himself together. Somewhat highly offended by all their rude stares. His gift was perfect! "This gift of mines represents all my feelings and thoughts towards Yuki." He plainly said.

Toga's snickering grew loudly in the background.

Takuma wondered why all his male associates seemed to have a screw loose! "Zero," Takuma stared at him with utter disbelief, "You gave her a _Glock 19 Pistol_ as your engagement gift to her."

Toga's background snickering turned into chocking guffaws at the revelation.

Zero defended himself. "It a small, light, and powerful semi-automatic powerhouse and is the gun of choice for the United States Air Force. It only weights 29 ounces when fully loaded and is capable of holding 19 rounds. I've had the Hunter's Association modify it to be able to utilize anti-vampire bullets." Zero looked at them deadpanned. "It's the perfect gift for the woman who is going to be _my_ wife."

Everyone in the room stared at him, while Toga continued to madly cackle in the background.

"That's not the point!" Takuma gasped. "You don't give your fiancé a gun as an engagement gift!"

"Why not?" Zero started to argued.

Leave it to Zero to give Yuki an anti-vampire gun as his personal engagement gift to her. Some things never seemed to change.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Four: Gifts**

* * *

**Present**

Yuki snarled as she whipped her head towards Rima and Senri.

"How could this have happened?" She angrily hissed.

Rima and Senri looked at her, but words could not come out of their lips. Rima, herself, was also extremely enraged by the developments, but Senri looked completely crestfallen. This was bad. This situation was so bad.

When Senri realized that his two main cameras were impossible to fix, he contacted Rima immediately and told her of the dire situation. Because Senri's broadcast company was the only one handling this event, he was completely responsible for the televised live show.

And they desperately needed this first divorce session to be broadcasted live around the world. There could be no exceptions! By darkness, why was Yuki so unlucky? What in the world was going on? How did those cameras get broken?

Public opinion and understanding were one of the very few weapons they had against Kaname that could be called Yuki's own. Therefore, Senri was working hard in getting the vampire public on Yuki's side for this divorce session because by having the divorce session broadcast live around the world, Kaname wouldn't be able to edit or prohibit any of the revelations that Yuki was to reveal during the court. When Yuki finally revealed to the public the crimes that Kaname had done against her and Zero, he wouldn't be able to banned it from public knowledge. However, as a precaution, Rima wanted all the key players from that time to be physically present during the big revelations. Therefore, she made sure that the four important leaders of the vampire hunters, and all the inner-circle members would be present at this session.

Everyone would hear what Yuki had to say at the same time, and Kaname wouldn't be able to stop it from becoming publicly known.

Thus, Kaname would have to face the penalty of being Zero Kiryu's real killer.

And Yuki wasn't going to stop there. Oh, no. This crime against Zero and Yuki had far more to it than just simple murder. Yuki would reveal the fact that Zero Kiryu was Yuki's true-love mate.

Zero Kiryu was the murdered true-love mate of the Pureblood Yuki Kuran.

Kaname committed one of the _ultimate_ taboos.

While vampires, especially pureblood vampires, were an ominous race that relish the exploits of the darker nature, there was one thing that was never to be harm when vampires fought and warred against each other. To harm it was one of the greatest of vampire taboos.

What was this great taboo in vampire society? Well, the ultimate taboo in vampire society was the intentional murdering of a vampire's true-love mate.

As a long-lived race, a vampire's true-love mate was to a vampire, like air and water was to humans. A vampire's true-love mate allowed them to survive and grow and thrive in a way that wasn't equal to anything else on this planet.

Nevertheless, unlike humans, vampires that three different levels of love mate – Half, Consort, and True.

A half-love mate of a vampire was similar to a human relationship types described as at best 'friends-with-benefits' or at worst 'oncall-sluts'. Pleasurable exchanges between such half pairings were generally limited, brief, and constantly changing.

A consort-love of a vampire was far more intense and emotional satisfying. Consort-love was known to last for decades and a great many vampire pairings were defined as consort-lovers. Consort-love was something similar to the human relationship type of the 'arranged or tactical marriage'. In general, such pairings were enacted for mutual beneficial reasons that eventually grew into a close-nit partnership and companionship. Most vampires engaged in consort-love pairings because they were mutual fulfilling and safer than the last type of vampire love.

A true-love mate of a vampire was like the vampire's other self. Both members of the true-love pair completed each other in ways that greatly amplified their combined traits, strengthens, and characteristics. The true-love pairing was the most powerful of all vampire love pairings. The strength and power of such a bond were beyond description and too wonderful for words. And the _completeness_ of a true-love pairing and the intensity of the love between the true-love mates could never be expressed in consort-love or half-love. Vampire history was littered with great examples of the ardor, the passion, and the power of such beautiful nightfall love.

Yet despite the promise of total completeness in true-love, true-love vampire pairs were extremely rare in the vampire world.

It was rare because if one member of the pair was taken from the other, the one left behind would have felt like they lost half of their soul.

And go utterly mad.

And a mad vampire, especially the higher the level of the vampire, was an extremely dangerous, wantonly destructive, utterly lost, and unspeakably cruel thing. Far worse than a Level E vampire could ever be.

Therefore, if a rival vampire were to stupidly destroy such an integrated and rare thing in the vampire world, they were punished to the highest extend possible.

And Zero was Yuki's true-love vampire mate.

When they had given themselves to each other the first time, they had inadvertently created the true-love blood bond. They had done it by accident, but they were completely unbothered by its risks and so told no one about it. However, when Yuki had desperately searched for him, she had felt the intense bond between them be ripped apart three days before she found the bloody cave.

Only _one_ thing could destroy a bond so powerful, and that thing was _death_.

And she refused to believe that he died. She refused, _refused_, **refused**...until she saw that blood-soaked cave.

And when she finally accepted with a defeated certainty that Zero was lost to her forever - she went mad.

She went mad for five years.

How she came back to herself was a mystery that no one could solve, but Yuki now believed that it was probably because she was to be Zero's justice hammer from the grave.

Thus, Yuki was going to reveal to the world the fact that Kaname had committed such a grave crime against her by killing her true-love mate.

The strike would hurt him terribly – both in the private and public realms of his life forever. The murder of one's true-love mate was a crime that not even a pureblood could commit and escape from. In a way, it was even more terrible for a fellow pureblood to commit such a vile crime. After all, of all the vampires in the world, it was the purebloods who understood the sheer valuable in the true-love bond.

But now, that key weapon was in danger!

Yuki wanted to damn her race. Why was life so little valued by her people? In the human world, crimes like murder didn't have a status of limitations. Even though Kaname had murdered Yuki's true love, due to the fact that Yuki had regained herself, there was an ancient legal limit to the time a vampire, even if they were a pureblood, could be prosecuted for such a taboo crime.

And despite the fact that Kaname had committed such a great taboo, to the inhabitants of the Nightfall world, life was cheap.

And power was expensive.

Death, murder, mayhem, lost, and decay were routine happenings in the nightfall world. So even the worst of crimes needed to have limits. Vampires lived forever and life on the planet would end extremely quickly if vampires continuously desired dark vengeance against other's wrongs.

But Yuki was furious. Her blood felt like it was boiling.

_Why was this have to happen now?_ How did this happen? They were already stretching their luck on this! The status of limitations was going to end at exactly 10 PM tonight! How in the world would she be able to force Kaname to answer for his crimes once the time limit period ended?

Yuki needed both the live broadcast and the original court time. If they started the session at 8 PM, she would still have the time to legally strike at Kaname for his crime against her and make the strongest case she could to the public and future jury to have all her various demands and compensations attained. However, if she went through with the divorce proceeding on time, her goal of getting the public on her side would terribly fail. Kaname wasn't the type to allow such things to be re-aired again. And the cameras were her best shield for Rima's and Senri's safety. After all, Kaname couldn't well murder key persons on Yuki's side if his past crime against her was well-known. In the event that one of them were 'accidentally' killed, there would be a worldwide backlash against Kaname in some way. Reputation is important, after all. While vampires rulers were known for their evil, being seen as an utterly immoral ruler was much more damaging.

"I am so sorry, Yuki." Senri felt terrible. He screwed up so badly, and he didn't even know how the hell that happened! He had made sure that no one who wasn't from his company could come into that place! So how did that happen? No one was even near those two cameras, and they were on strong platforms. So how in the world...but Senri needed to focus on the present problem. "I'm trying to get replacements in as fast as possible, but the replacements will take at least two additional hours to be operational. "

He felt Yuki's dark queenly gaze and nearly shivered at its maliciousness. She said nothing, but that was scarier to Senri then just her blowing up. Such quiet anger...it was extremely similar to another cousin of his.

Blood doesn't lie, huh?

But Rima loudly sighed. She was Ms. Bitch Lawyer Mastermind. Minute-late catastrophes were a dime a dozen in her field. And she was use to making quick but harsh decisions. She knew how Yuki felt, but Yuki needed to see the bigger picture here. "Yuki, we need to push back the first court session for it to be a live broadcast."

"No." Yuki hissed. "Kaname can't be prosecuted then." Her voice was so flat.

"Yuki!" Rima snapped. There just wasn't enough time for this. The sun was setting soon. "You know that we can't enact our _other_ plans without the live broadcast. You're _not_ just going to inform the world of Kaname's past crime. You also need to inform it of your _future_ demands and compensation. That's the most important." Rima's blue eyes looked at her friend and queen with understanding, but facts were facts. "Even if the world isn't informed of Kaname's past crime, it can't be uninformed about your future plans and desires." She looked Yuki carefully in the eye. "And if you get what you demand out of this, you will hurt him where it hurts the best." Rima viciously promised.

Yes. Rima and Yuki decided to aim at Kaname's throat with this divorce. They were going to tear away from him the thing he worked so hard for. After all, how can he be a ruler when even his own lover was going to turn completely against him?

Plus, Yuki needed the whole vampire world to know exactly what she was going to demand from Kaname for her revenge. The thing itself was _worthless_ to her, but it mattered _most_ to Kaname. Therefore, it was the only way Yuki knew that she could really hurt that man. It was the only thing she had. And once she had it, she would give it to Haruka, and Haruka wouldn't have to deal with the unneeded cruel pressure of his father. Haruka, who remained her so much like Zero, would finally be free.

Yuki's heart bled, but her mind knew what she had to do. "Fine." She turned her back to them. "Let Kaname have this one last gift." She hissed to herself.

* * *

**Thirty Minutes Later...**

Kaname turned off his phone.

And he viciously smiled with great delight.

Wonderful. Everything was working so wonderfully. What a marvelous gift he just received.

Kai, his greatest of personal assistant servants, had just informed him of his success. The divorce proceeding would be delayed by at least two hours.

Wonderful. That was absolutely wonderful news!

Kaname was very pleased.

Now, all his plans were ready to be implemented against Yuki. Kaname knew that at the end of this night, he would have everything that he desired and very soon his life would go on a more smooth path.

Kaname had two plans.

The first plan was to defeat Yuki in this farce divorce circus of hers. He had three main tactics he could use against her in this court session and thanks to Kai's successful delay, Kaname would be able to use all three tactics against her in full force.

He was going to burn every single bridge of escape she had from him during this event.

And after he had crushed all her escape routines, he would start his second plan. This plan would end with him secretly revealing to her the fact that he had her precious 'first choice' love. However, when he was implementing that second plan, there were also a few other wicked tactics he would implement against her then. Thus, not only would she not be able to ever escape from him again, she would be forever constrained to be by his side.

At the end of this night, Yuki would be unable to ever escape or stand against him ever again.

Ah, legal terminology and red tape. Such wonderful things they were sometimes.

Yuki and Rima would not be able to use their best weapon against him now because of it. Simply because humans and vampires have similar legal systems, doesn't mean that everything was the same. If Yuki had been truly serious about this thing, she should have had this divorce proceeding earlier. Now, it would be impossible to prosecute Kaname for his past crime. However, Yuki could still mention it in court. Mentioning it in court would still give Yuki some power in her divorce action against him.

Kaname wasn't a fool. He knew that Yuki would probably reveal the fact that he had arranged the murder of her 'first choice' love during this first divorce session. To expect anything different was a fool's wish. Yuki would know that informing the world of Kaname's past misdoings against her, and her first love would make the vampire public at large be extremely sympathetic to her position. Therefore, using such a method against him was still a very good attack on her part.

**True Love. **

True love was the only cure to the long-lived pureblood and thus to their small numbers it was the ultimate goal. Love allowed two people to finally have the deeply wished-for dream – being part of the Ideal Matched Pair and living the Blended Life.

But Kaname had destroyed that path for her. _He wouldn't allow it_. Yuki should never have had the Ideal Matched Pair relationship with Zero. It was supposed to be him. Kaname and Yuki. _Not_ Zero and Yuki. So, he destroyed that connection to protect what was rightfully his. After all, it was _Kaname_ that had done everything for her. Therefore, Yuki was supposed to be forever _his_ ideally matched partner, and he would accept nothing else.

Yet, despite the fact that he had had Yuki all this time, something was severely _lacking_ with his bond to Yuki.

She wasn't what he thought she would be.

Yuki was...severely lacking...in some of the important characteristics he deeply desired in an ideal partner.

So, because of _that_ she should have the good sense to agree to permit him to have a _substitute_ in her place.

Silver Night would serve well as her substitute.

Kaname finally figured out the deep reason he had such a strong obsessive possessiveness with Silver. Silver Night had all the characteristics he desired in his vision of an ideal partner. Silver accepted him. The man accepted his darkest nature and every cruel feature in his character. Silver simply accepted and understood him.

And not once did Silver ever try to change Kaname or question him.

Silver just accepted Kaname _as he was_.

That never happened while he was with Yuki. While Yuki had greatly changed from her human days and in many ways, her current self suited him better – Kaname didn't like the fact that she just couldn't accept Kaname's darker and crueler nature. And even though he knew that Yuki, out of all the creatures on this planet, understood Kaname the best, Kaname was always irritated by the fact that she somehow still wanted to change him.

Kaname didn't want to be changed, and he briefly wondered if she even knew that such a thing would never ever work. Kaname could not be changed, and he refused to ever consider doing so because it was he who knew himself the best. Kaname knew exactly what he wanted and what he needed. And unlike most individuals, Kaname knew why he wanted and needed such things. Such self-realization is not very easy or common to the general inhabitants of this world, and that was why Kaname Kuran was so powerful and strong.

Kaname _knew_ himself.

Kaname _accepted_ himself.

And Kaname would _never_ ever change himself again.

However, Yuki should have remembered that while other things will always change, some things would forever remain the same.

He was pureblood. Therefore, he would always be changeless.

Yuki was simply _unready_. Too unready to really accept Kaname in _all_ his entirety.

But Silver Night did. Silver accepted and understood Kaname without fighting, without denying, without criticizing, and without complaint.

So, when Kaname was with Silver, he felt at _peace_.

He would _never_ give up such a highly treasured feeling.

Nevertheless, while also knowing himself, Kaname knew his family, his friends, his kingdom, his people, and all his subjects. He knew them better then they knew themselves.

And he was going to exploit their darkness to his advantage.

However, there was one thing that needed to be done. One important thing he had to be mentally assured of before he went out and enacted his first wicked plan of this new dark night.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** And so the plot builds! Ha ha! I'm updating earlier again because my regular work and study schedule took an arrow to the knee because of my sickness. ;_; But anyway, thanks for reading! And leave a lovely little review – short of long I love them all! XD


	46. Chapter 45 Switch

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**Present**

The Imperial Hotel, located at the epicenter of Tokyo, Japan, was the primer luxury hotel that catered to society's elite. It had two massive skyscraping buildings and one of the few places in the world that had a conference room that could comfortably accommodate thousands of people – the world-famous Golden Flower. The east building of The Imperial was called The Red Wing of the King, and the west building was called The White Wing of the Queen.

But by all darkness, what the hell was Takuma Ichijo doing here?

The red carpet media fanfare died down and there were hundreds of noble vampires throughout the realm inside the Golden Conference Room waiting for the show to begin. Takuma felt like crying. He just got the call from Kaname that the first divorce session would be delayed by two hours.

What exactly does one do with nearly 700 noble vampires from around the Far Eastern Realm for two hours? Takuma didn't know and for once in the entire lunatic affair, he didn't have to deal with that problem. The King's Left Arm, Hanabusa Aido, and The Mistress of Court Function, Ruka Souen, were currently navigating through those scary waters.

Nevertheless, Takuma still had his final few tasks. The four human vampire hunters, Headmaster Cross, President Yagari, Vice President Takamiya, and Miss Takamiya had all come after the media fanfare had nearly ended. The few remaining media personnel had found themselves with the ultimate scoop and had gone relatively wild. Vampire hunters at a pureblood divorce court session? Impossible! And those few remaining photographers fled to the nearest taxis in order to get their pictures to their respective bosses.

Takuma had a feeling that tomorrow night's various news outlets were going to have some of the most scandalous headlines he hadn't seen in years.

Then the Japanese-American Vampire Ambassador of the North American Realm came to see him. William Watanabe had short slicked black hair and warm gray eyes. He had informed the man of his lodgings, and that he would personally see to him after the First Court Session. The man smiled at him nicely and agreed to meet with him later.

But a smile! Takuma was so glad to see it! Finally! Someone who was at peace! Takuma would swim the Sea of Japan for a smile right now. He didn't have a smile directed at him for quite a long time. So getting a smile for him was far better to him that the usual expressionless anger (Kaname), emotionless calm (Senri), smirking indifference (Hanabusa), or wary legal rivalry (Rima) he was getting from all his close associations.

Takuma's green eyes dimmed a bit in sadness. His two best friends, Senri and Rima, had not spoken a word to him since the last time he saw them.

Yuki, Rima, and Senri had formed some type of strange us-versus-you club and refused to speak with him after the last lounge inner circle meeting. Rima hadn't contacted him at all since their three-way meeting with the African Pureblood Queen and Senri...well...Senri was completely _indifferent_ to his presence back in Japan. While Takuma should have expected it after the way he had treated the man before, it still hurt to face the consequences of his past actions. Takuma _still_ did care for Senri. It just wasn't in the way that Senri truly wanted him to.

By all that is dark, he had so many problems! Takuma massaged his forehead.

However, the main problem was that Kaname didn't even have the essential consideration for him as to inform him of _why_ Yuki was doing all this in the first place! How exactly was he suppose to represent him if Takuma was going into this affair completely **blind**?

Why? _Why_? Why was Takuma's life so convoluted?

However, at this exact moment, the newest of his problems was staring at him with...extreme distaste.

Takuma Ichijo wished the floor would open up and eat him. Man, why exactly did his life go from okay-dopey to utter-doom in less than three weeks? Takuma felt like crying for himself, but because he was the King's Right Arm and his legal representative for this affair, Takuma knew he had to maintain his dignity, even if his dignity was dying an extremely slow and painful death these past few days.

Takuma Ichijo stared at the beautiful but imposing Pureblood African Queen, Biashara Bimnono. Behind her was her descendant, Abi Bimnono. The young woman looked at him with deep pitying sympathy. _That's not good._ Takuma suddenly felt like he was meeting an extremely scary person.

Queen Biashara's twin black eyes narrowed in distaste at him, while her golden robes whipped around her like angel wings. "Am I to correctly understand that the First Session Divorce Proceeding of King Kuran and Queen Kuran will be delayed by two hours?" She lightly asked in irritation.

Takuma simply nodded his head. He could barely say a word, and that was saying something. While his king had an immense presence, because Takuma had grown so use to being around him after all the years they spent together, it somewhat made the immenseness of Kaname's being somewhat 'dim' to Takuma. Takuma could still be terrified by Kaname from time to time, but because of the familiarity, he didn't _**quite** _fear for his life as often as he _should_ _have_ with him being in the presence of a pureblood ruler all the time.

That couldn't be said for the pureblood ruler before him.

Takuma was extremely unnerved by her presence.

However, he had a strange feeling that Queen Biashara showed up so late to spite the media cameras and fanfare of this event. She was also equally infamous for her distaste of the modern world's newest invention of such professions. Honestly, he was sort of happy that the red carpet media had left when they did. If not, Takuma knew his eyes would have been blinded by all the flashes of light by now. It was rare for Queen Biashara to care, much less be physically present, at such a high vampire society event. The fact that King Kuran and Queen Kuran had such a highly respective if mystifying figure in the vampire world moderating their divorce was going to put this entire affair in the history books, if it wasn't already.

"I have a waiting room prepared for you, Queen Bimnono." Takuma respectfully bowed.

Queen Bimnono sighed and nodded her head. Great! So, he wasn't going to die right now! Somewhat relieved, Takuma led her to her private waiting rooms near the Golden Flower Conference Room.

Nevertheless, Takuma privately sighed to himself. Goodness, everything was wrong in the world! He still didn't solve his last and main problem!

In less than three hours, Takuma Ichijo was going to represent his king in the vampire world's first ever pureblood royal divorce court trial.

And he wasn't even prepared for it.

_What could possibly go wrong?_ Takuma sadly thought to himself. However, that answer wasn't an unanswerable one, because he knew that with all the different types of people involved in this crazy affair that there were _many_ things that could go wrong.

He just wasn't prepared for half of it.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Five: Switch**

* * *

**Present**

Kaname looked at his silver-haired lover.

In two hours, he would be facing off against Yuki at their First Court Divorce Session.

He had his plan, and he understood all of his various countermeasures. Therefore, after he had defeated Yuki at this fool's game, he would then reveal to her that he had her 'first choice' under _his_ complete control.

Kaname could not wait to see her face when she discovered that not only was Kiryu alive, but that he would **never** be _hers_ again.

_**Ah**_, Kaname couldn't wait for that particular moment.

However, after she had proven herself again worthy for his good graces, he would allow her to have a mild relationship with the man. Kaname could be _gracious_ after all. However, it will forever be on his terms and only on his terms.

Yuki would only see the man if _Kaname_ allowed it.

Nevertheless, Kaname needed to be there when Yuki and Silver/Kiryu met for the first time. Yuki wasn't a fool after all. She would need the intractable proof that Kiryu was alive and real. However, in the possible event that Kaname saw Kiryu trying to reappear, he would immediately force the man unconscious and erase his memory of the encounter.

Kaname would _never_ lose Silver Night.

However, knowing how irrational Yuki was being of late, she would probably try to take Kiryu for herself, and Kaname was willing to concede that Yuki may even use force against him in order to so do.

Unfortunately, for her, she wouldn't be able to even do that.

Kaname wasn't above using cruel physiological tactics, and right now, he had the best one he could possibly have against the rebellious woman.

Silver Night would forever be _his_ because Kaname was Silver Night's one and true master.

Yuki wouldn't be able to take Silver away from him due to the various Doll Enchantments because of it. The Doll Blood Submission Bonds of Silver Night applied _only_ to him. Thus, his silver-haired lover, regardless of his form, would forever do or be whatever Kaname desired. And there was another weapon he could use against her on this particular point. One extremely important thing that would force Yuki to do his will and stay by his side.

Kaname had the power of Silver's _Doll Termination Spell_.

Doll Termination was one of the safe guards against Doll theft. In the event that a Doll was taken from their master, that master would be able to activate the immediate death of the Doll in question. For vampires, it was better for a thing to be destroy, then for it to be lost or taken. Therefore, in the event that Yuki took Silver against Kaname's expressed wish, Kaname could activate the Doll Termination spell and Silver - no, her beloved first-choice Kiryu - would be no more.

Of course, Kaname would never _actually_ do that. However, Yuki _wouldn't_ know that _he_ wouldn't. When she stole his memories of what he did in the past, Yuki would have seen his inherent spite against Kiryu. So, she would most likely assume that Kaname still felt the same way towards the man.

Thus, Kaname could use the threat of Kiryu's possible death against her. In a way, Kaname would be saying, _If you want your Kiryu to live, then he can only live as my Silver, and you must forever stay by my side._ Despite the fact that he had **_no_ _intention_** of fulfilling such an awful thing, Yuki would not know that, and thus she would be forced to submit to his commands.

In a way, Kaname was actually holding Kiryu hostage against Yuki in order to keep her by his side.

Still, Kaname did not want Kiryu to reappear without him being there to stop it. He needed to make sure Silver could not see or learn of Yuki until he allowed it. So, as he looked at his ideal silver-haired lover, Kaname decided that he would use the power of the Submission Blood Bonds to have the absolute mental security that Silver would obey them.

Kaname looked at his precious person and said, "~_**Do not watch my divorce proceeding on the TV.~**_"

Silver blinked at him in confusion, and Kaname closely watch his reaction. Would he question him? Would Silver try to rebel against his expressed command? Did Silver have some _traits_ of the vile hunter in him?

Silver smiled gently at him. "As you wish, my master." Silver bowed towards him. "I shall do what you desire." Some of Silver's long hair fell off his shoulder at his low bow. "I wish you well in this important endeavor."

Silver accepted his command without a shred of hesitation.

Something about that _warmed_ Kaname, and he smiled.

But now, he had to go.

He had complete victory within his hand.

* * *

Within Silver's darken soul, he felt the slight edges of panic, fright, and terror.

After he had saved the young princess from utter humiliation on the red carpet, he had escorted her to in her private hotel room with the help of Butler Rio and Servant Mika. The young vampire teen had looked at him with stars in her dark-brown eyes, and Silver felt extremely good about himself after he had saved her from her mortification moment.

But goodness! Silver had wanted his presence to be minor thing on the red carpet as per his master's orders, but with that saving act of the princess, he knew his actions would make it somewhere on the vampire news headline lists tomorrow night. So much for not bring attention to himself!

His master had soon come after them and then had informed Silver of where he would be staying during this event. At the revelation, Silver was a bit taken back.

He would be staying in his master's private hotel room chamber.

Silver wanted to raise an eyebrow at these odd events, but he wasn't sure what to think of them. Part of him was _quite_ happy. After all, wasn't this a sign that his master trusted him? Silver's main goal of getting the man to fall deeply in love with him was working if his master trusted him _that_ much.

However, Silver was also very uneasy about these developments. It didn't make much sense to Silver for his master to demand something so out of the norm. Silver had never been in his master's private palace room, so why did Silver have to stay in the King's _private_ hotel room? If nothing else could be said about Master Kaname, it would be that the man was logical in his progressions. Nevertheless, if his master didn't want the world to know that he had him, then wouldn't his odd presence in such a place be _more_ suspicious?

Silver Night was starting to become apprehensive, but now, he had even more reasons to be leery of everything that was rapidly happening around him.

His dark-eyed pureblood master used the Submission Doll Bonds to _force-command him_.

Silver could not breathe for severe alarm.

"~_**Do not watch my divorce proceeding on the TV.~**_" His dark-eyed, newly changed red-suit master commanded him.

Silver's eyes had widened. Unexpected shock froze his blood. He started to blink rapidly.

_Impossible._

He felt the tug of the Submission Doll Bonds take hold of him, forcing him to obey such a simple and easy command.

_It wasn't possible._

Fortunately, some distance part of him was able to effortlessly function and Silver was able to bow towards him. His ideal lover mask was still firmly in place.

Silver smiled at his jailor master gently. "As you wish, my master." Silver bowed towards him. "I shall do what you desire." Some of Silver's long hair fell off his shoulder at his low bow. The odd feeling made him feel even more uncomfortable. "I wish you well in this important endeavor."

His master gave him a slight warm smile, but Silver was internally chilled. The man soon left the hotel room.

Silver was most disturbed.

It wasn't like Silver needed to see the divorce proceedings. Even if he was curious to what his master's wife looked like. But now, all thoughts of that went out the door. His current master had never once used the Doll spells against him before. Why now? Why now and over something so simple? Silver could feel himself panicking. Why? Why now, of all times, would his master use them against him like this? If the man didn't want him to watch, he could have just told him so, but to force-command him...

Was Silver's current plan crumbling even before they were starting?

Without trust, love cannot be formed. Silver had assumed that his master had grown to trust him, and that belief was enriched because his master never force-commanded him to do anything...but this new development...

Silver's mind was spinning. _Why exactly would his master not want him to see the divorce proceeding?_ What could possibly be the reason for something like that? The entire world was going to watch, but he, his master's perfect dream lover, couldn't? _Why?_ That didn't make the slightest bit of sense.

And it made him most uncomfortable.

Everything was off.

* * *

The vampire blogosphere had switch on.

Pictures, video, blog posts, news feeds, and articles had exploded on the vampire web with a fury that Haruka had never _seen_ before. Thousands upon thousands of comments were being posted every minute. All comments ranged from well-reasoned sympathy for the royal family to flaming words of insult towards every single vampire involved in this affair.

Prince Haruka was a bit overwhelmed with all this information and opinion of his people and the world at large. However, while he knew many people became total assholes when they were behind a computer screen, it still pissed him off that they could talk so much crap and not know a thing about the situation. Damn trolls! This was his life, and he was a person! Did they think that Haruka couldn't read their public hateful messages?

Haruka wanted to make sure that his mother or Juri didn't learn about this. Especially Juri! While Haruka agreed that his sister was a clueless nitwit most of the time, he felt that no one else had the right to inform his sister of it! Only Haruka was allowed to insult his sister! Only him! Everyone else should get a punch in the face! Damn trolls.

Haruka was about to turn off his evil e-reader, but his dark-brown eyes widen at the newest headline blog article he saw on it.

**THE PRINCESS'S SECRET LOVE?**

_Is it possible that the Far Eastern Princess, Juri Kuran, has fallen in love? You bet! During the arrival of the Far Eastern King and Princess, the beautiful princess nearly had a red carpet disaster! However, a shockingly mysterious (and completely breathtaking) male saved the young girl from an extremely embarrassing fate. But who is this mysterious man? And how was he able to be so close to the royal family? Is it possible that –_

Haruka ignored the rest of the airheaded article and looked at the photograph tied to it.

It was a beautifully snapped photograph of a sunglasses-wearing black-suited man with long silver hair holding his sister tightly in his arms while his sister blushed madly. The man's long silver hair looked like a curtain of wings and dancing snowflakes, and the unknown man's perfect red lips whispered gently in her ears. His sister's dark-brown eyes shinned with gratitude at the save.

The picture looked like the embodiment of an angelic knight saving an innocent young princess from distress.

**What the _hell?_**

Haruka's disbelieving eyes stared at the photograph. There was only one person that could possibly be! Only Silver Night had such long beautiful hair!

What in the world? That guy was also here? What? Why?

What was father _thinking_ bring his hidden lover to his divorce session of all things? Didn't the man have _any_ shame? He might as well have slapped mother in the face! What a terrible jerk! To bring your new lover in front of your wife! The sheer nerve!

But while Haruka was outraged at his father's mean actions, his stomach twisted in strange pity for the silver-haired man. Silver wasn't a _lover_ to his father, per say. Silver was his father's _Doll_.

By all that is dark, even though Haruka knew it was illogical for him to feel this way, he felt so bad, and he didn't know what to do. If mother saw Silver wouldn't she get justifiably angry? Won't she want to hurt poor Silver because of father's cruel insult to bring the person he was cheating on her with in front of her like this? Haruka felt bad for his mother because of it. However, Haruka also felt bad for Silver. That guy was just caught in the middle wasn't he?

And then there was Juri...and father...and the divorce...and...

Haruka had so many problems.

And he didn't know what do to.

* * *

**One hour later...**

In one hour, she would finally meet her husband in court.

It was time to get ready.

It was time to start the night.

It was time she would begin her greatest fight.

Yuki looked at her makeup-less face in her luxury suite's cosmetic mirror.

Tonight's facial makeup theme would be _retributive blood_.

**_Once upon a time..._**

She put on her primer. She lightly massaged the clear liquid onto her face. _"If things had been different, I would have loved you forever." Zero said as he lay dying. He tried to squeeze her cheek teasingly._ Yuki knew he had meant every single word of that sentence. When he had said those words to Yuki on that cold winter day so long ago, something inside Yuki was finally freed. She understood her emotions so clearly at that moment.

Because _before_ that moment, Yuki had been confused in her feelings for Kaname and Zero.

She loved them _both_, and she had been so confused and scared that one day she was going to lose one of them _forever_. She kept putting off the decision. She was such a weak coward. Such a weak coward. And that coward was consciously hurting the two people closest to her in her life because she was so scared and confused. But when Zero laid dying, and she was confronted with the fact that she may never really – _honest to God_ – _**never** **really**_ see him ever again... that cowardly Yuki finally understood where her heart had always laid.

Sure, she loved Kaname. Kaname was like a dream prince. A heroic dark prince whom every little girl once dreamed of who was destined to always protect her and provide for her. A prince whom one could live happily ever after with. To live happily ever after with, in a place that was far, far away. That was what she saw whenever she saw Kaname's white-suit back whenever he walked with the Night Class students. Kaname was her heroic dark prince.

But Zero was _different_.

Even when they had been small and childish, even when Zero was in despair over his lost family, and she didn't know how to really reach him...Zero was so shockingly real to Yuki. He was defeated, but not broken. He was hurt, but he did not harm. Zero would get angry, but never rage. And when he loved, he truly loved. Even if he seemed so far away from the object of his love, he still thought and cared and treasured that love. He treated his love with a hidden and self-ascribing care. So, whenever she looked at Zero's brown-clothed uniform back, she only saw one thing.

She had always seen the back of a real man.

_**Once upon a time, a pure and innocent girl loved a silver-haired knight...**_

She put on her eye makeup. It was a flaming deep crimson shadow that would smoke at the edges of her eye lids. _"But always remember to smile: your smile is wondrous."_

He was always so giving. He was always so brave. People really never did understand the true Zero Kiryu at all. Zero seemed scary to most because of his quiet nature and intense stares. But Zero wasn't one to raise his voice at the average person. The only creatures that raised his ire were vampires, but that could be understandable. After all, it was his way of dealing with his old childhood pain and fear. It was a vampire that had taken away the three most important people in his world and Zero had so few precious things left in this world that he didn't want anyone, especially enemies of the part, to take them away again.

She applied her black eyeliner. She made a two smooth wings on the edge of her eyelashes. _"I don't want to eat anything unhealthy for my own wedding." Zero said deadpanned to his mother-like wedding planner. "Oatmeal has a lot of fiber." His monotone voice made it seem like he was actually serious about his suggestion, but Yuki knew he was getting an inner kick out of teasing their wedding planner._

Yet Zero was not just a scary, aloof, and rebellious person. Zero had his cute moments. So, many cute and embarrassing and clueless moments he had - they had. Yuki had always seen hints and shades of his complex persona underneath his cold hunter persona. Zero was secretly a very humorous and gentle individual, and he loved to tease and play. _Teasing_. Teasing was one form of showing his love and attention to the people he deeply cared for.

She put on her foundation. She smeared the expensive skin-matching cream over every seen and unseen flaw on her face. And Yuki saw thousands of faults. Zero's lips twitched into a small grin. _"You're really counting down the time, Yuki?" He wrapped his arm around her closer and kissed her forehead. "I like everything about you, Yuki, but most especially your smile. Your smile tells me everything I need to know."_ To Zero, when the one he loved smile, it was all that he needed. He was actually truly happy when the person he loved was happy.

She put on her concealer. She had a thousand, a million, a billion faults. Zero had never even hinted that he ever saw a fault in her. Of course, he would merciless tease and get angry with her when she or he did something embarrassing. Of course, he would say some off-the-wall things when the time suited him. But Zero was only happy when the person he cared for was safe. Zero Kiryu was first and foremost a protector. So he didn't really have the time to really find faults in those he loved.

_**Once upon a time, a pure and innocent girl loved a silver-haired knight, but she lost herself...**_

She put on her blush. The chosen color hinted of health and color and life. _Zero smirked. "Boys are too rebellious. Plus a boy with my stubbornness and your cluelessness would be a disaster. A little girl would be easier to deal with."_ Zero had wanted a raise a baby girl. A little baby daughter of his very own. A girl child with his silver hair and purple eyes. A little silver-haired and purple-eyed girl with her stubbornness and cluelessness and his broodiness and kindness.

But Yuki had wanted a boy. She wanted a son who would follow after his silver-haired father and demand that the man give him a horse-back ride. Their son would be so teasingly helpful and playful and gentle. Their son would have lived happily. Their son would have shown Zero what he could have been like if he had not been a hunter, if he had not been turned, if he had just lived a simple and carefree human life.

And she destroyed their child with her own two hands.

_**Once upon a time, a pure and innocent girl loved a silver-haired knight, but she lost herself, and that pure girl...**_

She put on her lipstick. Its bloody crimson ruby hue was painted repeatedly on her still lips. Red. _Red_. **Red**. She was red. Red was the color of love and passion and loyalty. Red. _Red_. **Red**. Red was the color of pain and lost and madness...

_Zero was dressed in his beautiful white wedding tuxedo and he stared at her with lovely clear amethyst eyes. Yuki was at her most beautiful best in the first time of her life. Her white wedding dress and his white wedding tuxedo flowed gently in the afternoon beach breeze. He looked at her and she looked at him. Then he said the two words that sealed their lives together forever. Zero Kiryu looked at Yuki Cross-Kuran and said, "I do."_

**Crack**.

Crack. Crack.

Crack. **Crack**. Crack.

Crack. Crack. **Crack**. Crack.

**_Shatter_**.

Her cosmetic mirror unexpectedly exploded into a thousand little pieces.

A thousand, a million, a billion little pieces.

Like her mind. _Like her heart. _**Like her soul.**

Yuki looked into her broken reflection in the thousand piece mirror and saw her beautifully broken face and ugly black-red heart.

She was now ready.

Zero _never_ had a chance to say those two words.

And the _one_ who prevented that was going to _bleed_.

Her lost retribution was assured.

_**Once upon a time, a pure and innocent girl loved a silver-haired knight, but she lost herself, and that pure girl was never seen again.**_

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter is the first start of the divorce session! XD Aren't we all excited? ;D Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long I love them all! I, personally, can't wait for the reactions! XD


	47. Chapter 46 First Session Court, Part I

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**Present**

Like two generals facing each other on the battlefield, King Kaname Kuran and Queen Yuki Kuran, took their positions on their royal thrones on the opposite sides of The Golden Flower Conference Room.

On the east side of the room was the Vampire King of the Far Eastern Vampire Realm Kaname Kuran. He calmly sat on his colossal black-gold throne with its numerous onyx stones, bloody rubies, and brilliant diamonds framing every nick, space, and cranny available on it. Pure Nubian gold traced and outlined the throne's inky wood. The King's Black-Gold Throne overwhelmed and loomed over the east side of the room like a dark inescapable shadow. Waves of ultimate power, total control, and cruel strength vibrated from the east and all the vampires present were astounded by the Far Eastern King's sovereign exhibition.

King Kaname Kuran was dressed in a high quality long three-piece crimson custom-fitted zoot suit with an eight button jacket. It had a leaf patterned vest lining and high contrast stitching on its lapels. His trousers were placket and button-holed. A silk white dress shirt was inside the jacket combined with a black-red silk tie and handkerchief. The King looked like an impressive but old world avant-garde monarch.

Near the King and on a representative platform stood The King's Right Arm, Lord Takuma Ichijo. As the king's legal divorce representative, he would be free to speak on the King's behalf during this event. However, near the King was a large white buzzer bell that would alert all present the King's desire to speak if he chose to do so at any point during this entire event.

On the west side of the massive conference room was the Vampire Queen of the Far Eastern Vampire Realm Yuki Kuran. She gracefully took her place on her white-gold throne and faced her husband in a composed unyielding manner. The Queen's White-Gold Throne was covered in pure large ocean pearls, numerous golden citrines, and countless shinning diamonds. While the throne was slightly smaller in stature than Kaname's Ruler's Throne, Yuki's throne had a luminous and brilliant presence that radiated substantial influence, commanding energy, and intense vigor.

Queen Yuki Kuran was dressed in a beautiful scarlet two-piece silk dress suit set. The soft material of the red fabric contrasted greatly against the colors of her white-gold Queen's Throne. Her dress had cap sleeves and a small slit in the back. The dress was also lined inside with a layer of dark burgundy silk. Her jacket had a one button closure with a ruby button detail on the front. Yuki's long black hair was pulled from her face and held tightly together in a flowing high black ponytail down her back. Her crimson smoky eye look combined with blood-red lipstick made the Queen look like an inspiring but equally imposing leader in her own right.

Near the queen and on another representative platform stood The Queen's Left Arm, Lady Rima Touya. Rima Touya meticulously held herself and she was dressed in a luxury black dress suit. Her brown hair was cut shorter and framed her steady face. However, her blue eyes burned with her world-famous intelligence and legal vigor.

Between the two soon-to-be-feuding royal purebloods and on the Judge's Seat sat the equally impressively dressed moderating judge - the Vampire Pureblood African Queen Biashara Bimonono. Her long and many braided hair was pulled up in a tight high bun. Her sharp but neutral black eyes slowly took and judged everyone and everything in the entire room, but her opinions about her findings were kept off her expressionless face. Her Judge's Seat was located right between the two divorcing sides and her scarcely released ancient power warningly vibrated throughout the entire room. In her polished ebony hands was the judge's gavel that gave her the power during this session to quiet either side and maintain order during this first court session.

In the audience sat Heir Prince Haruka Kuran, Princess Juri Kuran, four inner circle members and the only four humans in the room. The mismatched ten sat in the first two rows of the audience seats and their positions were the primer seats for this entire event. Prince Haruka Kuran, Princess Juri Kuran, Lord Hanabusa Aido, Lord Akatsuki Kain, Lady Ruka Souen-Kain, and Lady Seiren sat together and watched the royal couple with various expressions of disbelief and wonder, while the four humans - Kaien Cross, Toga Yagari, Kaito Takamiya, and Kagome Takamiya - sat behind the children and inner circle members. However, the human hunters' facial expressions were notably forbidding. Behind those eight were members from the nobles of the outer court, the foreign vampire aristocracy of China, Korea, and Mongolia, and the lower-level nobles from the Grand Assembly.

Dispersed throughout the entire room were Shikian Media cameramen who targeted their various video feed angles with exacting focus. In the main studio located in the concealed balcony of the conference room was Lord Senri Shiki, who was conducting the live broadcast of this event throughout the entire vampire world with a meticulousness of a master media artiste.

The moderating judge, Queen Bimnono, looked up at the large clock before her and saw that the clock's hands were at 10 PM.

"We will now begin the First Court Divorce Session of King Kaname Kuran and Queen Yuki Kuran." Her deep voice echoed throughout the shockingly hushed conference room. "As the Petitioning Spouse, Queen Kuran, will present her Petition first, followed by her Requested Compensation." Her deep tone of voice would not allow any argument. She continued. "Afterwards, the Respondent Spouse, King Kuran, will be allowed to comment on the Petitioning Spouse's claims and will then give his Answer and/or make a Counter-Petition claim."

Without waiting for agreement, the ebony judge slammed her moderating gavel down.

The loud echo signified to all present the First Court Session's start.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Six: First Court Session, Part I**

* * *

**Present**

Rima's noble blood was jumping with restless exhilaration.

The energy in the room sang thorough her flesh and she almost felt like she was a character in a dream. This was her moment. If felt like every stony-eyed judge, every overbearing client, and every intense courtroom drama she had ever faced had all merged together and prepared her for this exact moment.

While Rima knew that this case would make or break her career in the legal profession, she knew that regardless of the outcome, her name would go down in history. The pressure she felt was immense. Forever her words and actions on this day would be remembered and she felt so far away and so otherworldly.

Her black lawyer dress suit had been perfectly dry-cleaned and her face was free of any blemish. Rima could feel the excited gazes of hundreds of noble vampires and leaders on her. She could feel the burning of the numerous camcorder lenses on her face. She knew that beyond those emotionless lenses were another million pairs of vampire eyes who were completely focused on what she would do.

Before her was her once-friend and client's enemy – Yuki's current husband, Kaname Kuran. The man stared at her with emotionless dark eyes that seemed to have an unnatural shadow garnet glow to them. She had known this man for an extremely long period of her life. She had worked for and together with him to take down numerous vile enemies and threats. So, she knew him. She was familiar with him.

But that expressionless face of his still terrified her.

Even though she was in the presence of hundreds of noble vampires, two powerful vampire queens, and the global vampire world could see her, she still had a bone-deep terror of the expressionless man. Even more so with the knowledge she had of what he had done in the past.

No wonder Kaname was so powerful. He was a soulless monster. A vile serpent king. Only such an awful creature could have done the evil that he had and not feel a thing for it.

His hand may not have been the one to give the final blow, but it was his hand all the same.

He murdered Yuki's true-love mate, Zero Kiryu.

Even if he had not known that Yuki and Zero had created such a powerful bond between each other, he should have known how much Yuki and Zero loved each other. Only a blind, deaf, and stupid person couldn't have seen it. Zero had loved Yuki like she was his own limb, like she was a part of his body. Yuki had loved Zero like he was the other half of her soul.

And Kaname had him killed.

He had Zero murdered in such a vicious and violent way, and to make matters even worst, it was on the day that was supposed to Zero's happiest. By darkness, while Rima and Zero never had a chance to form a close friendship, she would make sure he received his rightful justice from the grave.

So, despite the fact that Kaname could still terrify her with a glance, Rima stood her ground.

She was going to make this snake bastard _bleed_.

* * *

Takuma Ichijo felt the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Everyone was here. Everything had finally come. It was all down to this.

He firmly stood on the representative's platform of his King and supposed client but Takuma felt lost. Completely and utterly lost, confused, and frightened. He had a feeling that he was going to screw this thing up somehow, but he wanted to prevent that as much as possible. Of all the fights and battles he had participated in his life, this situation was the culmination of them all.

And he was completely unprepared.

He looked at Rima and Queen Yuki.

Queen Yuki sat on her white-gold throne and looked at him with an expressionless gaze. Her dark-brown eyes quickly snapped between him and her soon-to-be ex-husband. Her poise and position on the throne was centered and she mirrored the king's unnatural calmness of this otherworld situation. But Takuma _knew_ Kaname and he _knew_ Yuki. Takuma knew that the supposed calmness between the two was an illusion. Those two couldn't possibly be so calm internally and Takuma was at a complete lost as to how the situation between them got so bad.

However, when Takuma's green eyes met Rima's firm blue one, he suddenly understood something extremely important. Rima's pink lips were pressed firmly together and her ice blue eyes held his gaze without a shred of fear. Takuma always knew that Rima was a force to be reckoned with and furious legal sword to spar against despite her relative newness to the legal profession. However, Takuma wasn't about to let the woman walk all over him. While he was unprepared, Takuma would do his best to be Kaname's defensive legal shield.

He was the King's Right Arm for a reason.

So, they were no longer friends at this moment.

* * *

Kaname took in his wife.

He had not seen her in months.

But so much has changed.

She was sitting before him in a controlled and poised position. She met his eyes without a trait of fear, but Kaname could see there was a dark loathing and vicious promise in them against him. Kaname was quite curious as to what the woman was planning to do.

Yet Kaname hardened his heart. He resolved that he would go through with his plans.

The king looked at his calm representative, but because Kaname was so familiar with the green-eyed man, he could see that Takuma was clearly a nervous wreck. However, the blond was able to keep himself together which was wonderful. As to be expected from someone who served him so well. Nevertheless, Kaname knew that once Yuki revealed her hidden hand, the man would be caught breathless. If he remembered correctly, out of all the vampires in his inner circle, Takuma had been the closest to the ex-human hunter. Due to the fact that Takuma was so...different...than the average vampire, Kaname theorized that the man would be next to useless in defending him once the facts were revealed.

Within the corners of his vision, Kaname took in the rest of his inner circle members and his two children. Haruka and Juri were sitting side by side and Kaname couldn't fathom whatt was going on in their heads. When Yuki revealed his past sin, he wondered how his two children would view him. Well, not quite. Haruka would probably be even more bothersome to deal with, but Juri...

Would Juri look at him with distrustful eyes after this event?

Kaname knew the likely answer, but he didn't want to give thought to it.

The king eyed the four hunters present for this first conference meeting. Those blasted hunters. Oh, Kaname knew he was going to have a time with them. It wasn't as if he knew his relationships with the humans were somewhat...null. Especially with Kaien Cross. However, he could not reveal the fact that he had Kiryu alive to _them_ of all people. Not when he had no good weapons to use against them. He did not need Yagari trying to blow up his palace or Takamiya waging a siege in order to get the man back.

Kaname wasn't letting his lover go. And he also didn't want to risk the chance of Silver discovering his previous past from unnecessary sources. His children and Yuki were enough to learn about it and perhaps later some select members of his inner circle. But still, Kaname wanted to keep Silver's existence quiet from the rest of the world. Part of it was that he only wanted the man for himself. Another part of it was that he remembered Silver Night's previous reputation.

This current drama before him was quite enough for the tabloids. They needed no further scoops.

Still, Kaname was curious as to what Yuki would demand as her requested compensation in this divorce session. Kaname didn't have a clue as to what the woman could possibly want. He had given her _everything_. He had made sure she lacked nothing and had the best of everything, so Kaname was quite unsure of what she would demand from him.

But it wasn't like he was going to fulfill it. However, knowing what she was after would help him better craft his various tactics against her.

Know what your foe desires. It was a standard rule of battle.

And this would be Kaname's and Yuki's defining first one.

* * *

Queen Biashara took in the two feuding spouses.

While she knew King Kuran's worldwide reputation, Queen Kuran did impress her. The woman was meeting her husband's eyes with controlled anger. Despite herself, the black queen really wanted to know why the woman was so angry.

She looked at the Kuran male. That man always seemed strangely familiar to her, but she dismissed the feeling. Everything seemed familiar to a person of her life length.

Let this now start.

Queen Biashara stared at the female brunette lawyer. She was impressed that the relatively young woman could meet her gaze. "This First Court Session will cover the first act of vampire divorce. This first act is called the Exploratory Phase." She rehearsed more so for the audience than for the two sides. "Such a phase requires both the petitioning spouse and the respondent spouse to make their claims and present their grievances before the public at large. At the end of this session, it will be decided whether or not the claims presented by either spouse is acceptable grounds for a trial divorce and bond break."

However, there was one thing that Queen Biashara needed to know before the two went at it. As the supposed breaker of the love-bond and martial agreement between the two, she would have to use a great amount of her power in order for her to do so. If the love-bond between them was a true-love bond, Biashara wasn't quite sure she wanted to really break such a thing. The consequences of such a thing was something she didn't want to see happen.

The moderating judge continued to speak. "It is well known throughout vampire society and culture that the martial agreement contracts are only allowed to be engaged by two vampires who have also agreed to engage in a love-bond. There are three types of love-bonds in vampire culture – Half, Consort, and True." She eyed the two legal representatives. "While it is generally a private matter as to which type of bond was formed between two vampire pairs, due to the public nature of this trial and the consequences that will befall the decision, it must be known what type of love-bond was engaged in by the two current spouses."

Takuma was flabbergasted. Surely it was obvious that Kaname and Yuki had a true-love bond! He was about to say that, but Rima's blue eyes flashed darkly in warning at him. Takuma was taken back. _What in the world?_

Rima saw her chance for a critical strike. She took in a deep breath and steadied herself. She knew this particular reveal was going to shake this realm's foundations. Everyone had thought that the bond between Yuki and Kaname was true, but...

"The type of love-bond between Petitioning Spouse, Queen Kuran, and Respondent Spouse, King Kuran, was the love-bond type of Consort-mate." Rima's voice echoed strongly in the large room.

Immediately, the room's audience erupted with stunned whispers.

**Impossible!**

King Kuran and Queen Kuran had a consort-love mate bond?

**Impossible!**

While it was the most common of vampire martial bonds, the entire realm had assumed that the love-bond between the royal couple was a true-love bond! The intensity of which King Kuran protected and cherished his Queen was without example! And the Queen! She was one of the few individuals in the entire realm that could calm the powerful king down and redirect his wrath from an unlucky victim. For such an intense connection, the majority of the Far Eastern Realm's subjects had believed their King and Queen had a true-love mate bond. The fact that their partnership was so strong had given them great pride in their ruling royal house.

True-love bonds were so _rare_ in the vampire world. And only the Royal House of the Far Eastern Realm had one.

Or so they all believed.

But their vampire martial bonds were based just on consort-love?

**Unbelievable.**

* * *

Kaname felt…_strange_.

A tightest captured his chest.

He had always known that the bond between him and Yuki was the consort-love bond. The second class of love-bond that vampire pairs formed between each other. But to hear the revelation out-loud was..._painful_.

Throughout all this time, he never understood why that was the case. He _loved_ Yuki. He loved her like she was his lifeline to life. And in an extremely real way - the woman _was_.

Without her, he could not be the powerful king he was and would be. By having her, he would not have to face his greatest of fears.

And his connection to her was so..._second class_.

Something inside him hurt.

It really..._hurts_.

* * *

_A consort-love bond, eh?_ Queen Biashara was quite relieved. _That's good._ So neither side would go insane if she accidentally broke the love-bond between them incorrectly. Not that she would do such a thing...intentional...really. Hmph. All is good then.

Queen Bisahara slammed her gavel down to quiet the whispering audience. Then the black woman motioned for Rima to begin speaking. "Begin Stage Two - the Petition." She ordered.

Rima Touya's, the Queen's Left Arm and Ms. Bitch Lawyer Mastermind, ice blue eyes came alive. With her mind and soul intend on full justice for her friend and client, she started her case.

"Ninety years ago, Petitioner Spouse, Queen Kuran and Respondent Spouse, King Kuran engaged in a martial agreement between each other. This martial arrangement was agreed to because of a mutual understanding by the respective spouses." Rima stared down at the slightly caught-off Takuma. "However, during the marriage between the two parties, it was made know that the anticipated understanding and compassion between the two spouses were fracturing and disagreements over many matters came forward." She took a deep breath to steady her next words. "Therefore, the marriage agreement between Petitioner Spouse, Queen Kuran, and Respondent Spouse, King Kuran, must to broken."

"_Objection_." Takuma suddenly spoke. His green eyes narrowed at her. "Disagreements between two spouses are a common affair in such relations, Representative Touya." He continued. "Such common disagreements are not good groundings for vampire divorce."

_Indeed._ The moderating queen said to herself. Vampire divorces must have good grounds. Unlike humans, vampires don't have 'no fault' divorces, which is another reason why such things aren't so common in their world. No fault divorces were...to put it lightly..._ridiculous_ to the vampire mind. Surely there is a _fault_, if such a once-close pairing couldn't now stand the sight of each other!

"Why should this martial agreement end with divorce?" Queen Bimnono questioned the Queen's Representative. "And thus have their vampire love-bond be broken between these two spouses?"

Rima's blue eyes blazed. "Queen Yuki Kuran demands a divorce on the grounds that the marriage agreement between herself and King Kuran was based on falsehood and misleading information." Rima announced to the shocked audience.

_Falsehood?_

_Misleading Information?_

Low whispers erupted in the audience.

Rima persisted. "Had Queen Yuki Kuran known of the various false premises, she would not have engaged in the martial agreement. Therefore, a martial agreement based on initial fabrication, deceit, and mendacity should not be compulsory fulfilled."

_How remarkable._ The African Queen thought to herself. "What is the information that would have prevented Petitioning Spouse, Queen Kuran, from _willingly_ engaging in the marriage contract with Respondent Spouse, King Kuran?" The moderating queen curiously asked.

Rima shot a look at King Kuran but her eyes were firm. "Respondent Spouse, King Kuran, was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Pureblood Yuki Cross-Kuran's true-love mate."

Takuma looked like he was just shot by an anti-vampire bullet and a fury of shocked gasps exploded throughout the entire conference room.

_Pureblood Queen Kuran had another mate?_ The Queen had _another_ mate? The courtroom exploded with paralyzing noise. _And that mate was her true-love?_

Prince Haruka and Princess Juri looked at each other with startled confusion. _Mother had a true-love mate_? A true-love mate that _wasn't_ father? Haruka rapidly blinked his eyes, while Juri whipped her head between their two parents. What? _That's crazy!_ What in the world was going on?

The energy of the room continued to skyrocket with _another_ realization.

And by all that is dark, the Queen's true-love mate was _murdered_ by the current consort-mate, King Kuran?

* * *

Rima took in another deep breath.

Like she had developed a new sense, Rima could feel the utter outrage of all the vampires in the audience.

_A true-love mate was murdered!_

**Raging revulsion.**

_A true-love mate was murdered!_

**Furious loathing.**

_A true-love mate was murdered!_

**Wrathful hatred.**

_Who in the world would commit such a despicable and base crime?_

They had their answer. It wasn't that hard to believe, after all. All sicken eyes were aimed at the Vampire Pureblood King.

Rima narrowed her eyes on King Kuran. For once in her life, she saw the man's handsome face express pure emotion. She saw shock, disbelief, pain, and..._dark realization_ in his rarely open face. _Good_.** Perfect.**

_You didn't think that your crime was no big deal and wouldn't face consequences did you, you serpent bastard?_ Rima bitterly thought. All her fear of the man had completely vanished.

But Ms. Bitch wasn't done yet.

Queen Bimnono looked slightly appalled as well. She narrowed her black eyes on King Kuran and pressed her red lips tightly together "You have a good grounding. Therefore, we will begin Stage Three." Queen Bimnono neutrally said. However, an expressionless look overtook her face and she returned her gaze to Rima. "In the event that the divorce and bond break is finalized, what is it that the Petitioning Spouse, Queen Yuki Kuran, Requested Compensation?"

Here it was.

This was the moment.

Rima gave Yuki a brief look. The woman had yet to say anything during this entire time, but she didn't need too. She saw Yuki straighten herself on her seat and she gave Rima an approving nod.

So, they were going to go through with this until the very end.

Rima suddenly had a confidence she had never felt before in her entire life.

And thus, she unleashed the words that would shake the foundations of their world forever.

In a loud and fearless voice, Rima Touya said. "In Requested Compensation for the great crime committed against her, Queen Yuki Kuran demands **_half_ **of the _Far Eastern Kingdom's Right To **Rulership** and **Governing Territory**_."

There was a chilling moment of silence in the entire conference room.

Every single person - man, woman, and child - looked at the Queen with breathless trepidation.

The sheer _magnitude_ of her demand was unspeakable.

* * *

Queen Yuki Kuran felt the appalling quiet in the room.

She knew her demand was unheard of, even for the crime committed against her.

But that was _only_ thing that could satisfy her revenge.

She was going to rip Kaname's precious kingdom in half. Just like how he ripped her precious Zero in half. She was going to tear apart his beloved power. Just like how he tore her beloved from her. She was going to crush all his future dreams and aspirations. Just like how he crushed Zero's dreams and aspirations.

Kaname loved and prized power above all.

So, Yuki knew that that was the best thing she could take from this vile monster of a man to make him feel at least a _little_ of the pain she would _forever_ feel.

She would split his power and kingdom. She would become a _ruling_ queen in her own right.

She would relish being a constant _crimson throne_ in Kaname's black heart and mind.

And afterwards, she would give her kingdom to her beloved Zero-like son, Haruka. And thus Haruka would be free from the awful pressure and presence of his father.

Yuki met Kaname's furious dark-brown eyes and she lightly smiled.

_I am going to take your beloved power, Kaname._ Yuki's eyes wordlessly promised. _I will take your dreams, kill all your future hopes, and crush all your petty aspirations._

* * *

The entire room was shocked speechless.

And the Moderating Judge, Queen Biashara Bimonino, knew she made the right decision coming here.

Of all the things to ask for! _By darkness, what was that dark-brown eyed woman even thinking?_

It would have been easier if Queen Kuran had simply just declared a _civil war_ or started a _rebellion_!

She wanted half the kingdom? She wanted to split the Far Eastern Realm into _two_ domains?

By all that is dark, the woman had _gall_. Biashara would give her that.

The entire assembly watched her in gagged awe, but the woman held herself firmly. But even _King Kuran_ was utterly flabbergasted that his wife would go so far and demand such a thing!

By darkness! What in the world was happening?

* * *

**HALF.**

_**HIS.**_

**KINGDOM****?**

Kaname could not believe what he was hearing.

That _**rebellious bitch**_ wanted _**half**__ of __**his**__ kingdom._

The kingdom that he built with his own blood, mind, and soul? The power he had spent so many nights and days working towards to attaining? The authority he had achieved by his hard work, cunning, and intense manipulations?

First, she had the nerve to try and divorce him and now she wanted half of HIS kingdom?

How bold.

A coldness inched inside him.

How _very_ bold.

She was his heart for a reason, it seemed.

How very, _very_ bold.

Kaname's face became expressionless but his mind took on a calculating air.

In a distant part of himself, he understood that he could use this sudden surprise to his advantage. He could see which of the non-loyal members of his kingdom would choose to side with his wife and leave his kingdom after all.

Kaname knew that his people did not total care for him and his ways, but they did feared him which was all he desired. However, even at this moment, he could almost hear the traitorous thoughts and treacherous misgivings towards him and his current rule. In a strange way, this was a golden opportunity. After all, if the kingdom was split and the traitors followed after Yuki, he could gather the names on a list and when he took her back, he could slaughter all the traitorous wretches. That was a possibility - a good option – but... **no**.

Yuki was his and he would have her forever.

So now was not the time for him to encourage her reckless ideas of leaving him. If she thought she could do so now, even when he eventually took her back, she would try to leave and fight and rebel again. So, no. This situation was the moment were he would made his intentions absolutely clear.

Kaname did not want Yuki to ever think she could ever get away from him. And this...vile, _ludicrous_, and **treacherous **demand of hers..._cemented_ his resolve to _**crush, trap, and keep**_ her forever.

* * *

Queen Biashara needed to move this first session on, but by darkness, it had only just started and the queen judge felt like she was walking on eggshells.

_Did those two not realize what they have just done_? Biashara could almost see the future fire, lost life, and pounds of shed blood.

"Your Requested Compensation is quite grand in its scope." Queen Biashara looked at Queen Yuki seriously. "By what right do you demand such compensation?"

However, the Queen's representative answered for her. "The great crime committed against my client deserves such minor compensation." Rima defended. "Her husband by falsehood and consort-love mate, Kaname Kuran, murdered the rightful husband to-be and true-love mate of Queen Kuran."

_Indeed._ Queen Biashara thought. _Great crimes deserve great punishment._ And Queen Kuran was a royal queen. Such a demand was worthy of her station and title.

But the audience in the room was shocked into utter silence again. All of these beginning revelations had forever torn apart the Far Eastern Realm's world.

_The Queen had had another mate._

_That mate was her true-love who was murdered by her consort-mate._

_And because of her true-love's murder and as her rightful compensation, she demanded the power of the Far Eastern Realm._

Queen Bishara asked the question that was on every single person's mind at that moment. "Who was the murdered true-love mate of Queen Yuki Kuran?"

Rima took in a deep breath. She had just shook the external world, and now she would shake the internal one.

"He was called _Zero Kiryu_**.**" Rima hoped somewhere above that Zero had heard her. "The Respondent Spouse, King Kaname Kuran, murdered the Queen's true-love mate who was once called **_Zero Kiryu_**."

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N**: Ha ha! Things are just getting started! ;D But I can't wait for the reactions on this particular chapter. XD However, I'm updating before the USA's Turkey Day tomorrow, so I hope you all have a great holiday! :D But thanks for reading! And please leave a review – short or long – I love them all! ;3


	48. Chapter 47 First Session Court, Part II

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

The four hunters present froze in shocked horror. The myriad of feelings and emotions that ripped through their hearts were chaotic and confused.

Shock. **Pain**. Distress. Astonishment. **Horror**. Alarm. Fright. **Realization**.

But most of all… the emotion that was agreed about by the four human hunters was **rage**.

**Total, complete, heart-burning _rage_.**

_King Kuran…was the one…who was responsible for…Zero's death?_ Toga's mind froze. He was completely take aback. He felt like he had just been kicked in his teeth and the air in his lungs burned his fragile veins. Toga's old heart suddenly seemed to stop beating and Toga wondered mildly if this was the beginning of a heart attack or stroke or whatever stupid disease that can suddenly kill an old person.

Zero...his student...his son's...death...was caused by...that red-suit pureblooded vampire man...who was…just sitting right there?

Toga's single blue eye blazed with black hatred.

Without even thinking about the possible consequences, Toga's age-spot hand went towards his hidden anti-vampire gun, The Silent Reaper, but out of the blue, Kaien Cross stopped him with a tight and merciless grip.

"Don't be a fool." Cross hissed.

Toga was about to bitterly curse his refusal at the man's rebuking order, but then their eyes met. One blazing blue eye met utterly cold and lifeless light brown orbs, and at that exact moment Toga was reminded that this man was once known as "The Vampire Without Fangs".

Cross's tight grip on his arm forced the elderly Toga to think more clearly. It was difficult. Toga felt like burning the entire room to the ground.

But then Kaien spoke slowly and lowly to him. "You wouldn't make it out alive if you drew your weapon, my friend." Gone was Kaien's mild-mannered expressions and carefree voice. "This is being broadcasted live around the global vampire world!" Kaien's dark voice hissed. "And if the entire vampire world sees a human defender pull a weapon against one of their top rulers, it could start a bloody war."

"I _want_ a bloody war." Toga spitefully murmured back.

"Then don't start one now." Cross surprising said. "Don't start one that we can't currently win."

Toga felt like he was slammed back into reality.

Nevertheless, Kaien Cross himself was downright infuriated. His light brown eyes equally blazed just like Toga at the shocking betrayal. Despite the fact that Zero never claimed him as a father, Kaien had always considered Zero like his own son, just like he considered his precious Yuki as his own daughter.

By the sword of blood! By steel's cold wrath! Cross couldn't believe that he had trusted that evil garnet-brown eyed man. In the beginning of it all, Cross had thought the Kaname was like his mother – that he was a kind, understanding, and peaceful soul – but this past last century had revealed to him that he had been played the fool. A complete and utter fool. He'd been used and discarded by the pureblooded king like a broken and useless pawn and thus Cross was bitterly reminded why it was never okay to simply just trust members of the nightfall race.

Despite his wishes and efforts for pacifism, Cross now knew that to desire peace without strength was an impossible dream. If the human world had not developed itself as it had, Cross was now no longer under any foolish illusions that the vampires he tried to now befriend and help would have had similar peaceful views.

Every soul seemed to have its evil.

And vampires were just more honest with embracing their inner darkness.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Seven: First Court Session, Part II**

* * *

**Present**

To say that Kaname Kuran was simply furious as to the developments and revelations of this first court divorce session would be the greatest understatement in the history of the world.

First, his wife would dare demand a divorce from him in front of the entire world.

Second, his wife would then dare announce that their bond was a consort-level love bond to the entire world.

Third, his wife would dare claim that another man was her true-love bond mate and the rightful lover to her in front of the entire world.

And fourth, his wife would dare demand half of his kingdom and power as retributive reparations for his supposed crimes to the entire world.

Kaname Kuran wasn't just furious.

He felt murderous.

His inner monster snarled and howled and demanded that he rip apart all the inhabitants in this accursed room. His inner beast deeply desired to paint his clawed fingers with blood and have his nails tear apart weak flesh. A burning, raging, furious, and hot anger boiled in his veins and he wanted desperately to hurt, to main, to stop, or to crush what was going on before him. However, Kaname wasn't a man that allowed his hot rage to direct his actions. Yet he didn't know what to do with this massive emotional crisis of his.

What could he do?

What the _hell_ could he do?

Suddenly, a flash memory from the far distant past slammed into his mind. It felt like a single anti-vampire bullet had ripped through his skull and sunk into his brain.

_He was a stranger in a strange land. Defeated, dirtied, and tendered, he was a lost man who had found himself in a strange land. It was a land of unknown heat and black fire. It was a land covered in pure gold, rare stones, and bright diamonds. It was a land of many dark faces. The quiet oceans had forced him to drift on the path that led to this strange hot land. _

_A dark skin woman with glowing imperial crimson irises looked at him with complete suspicion and utter distrust. "Who are you, pale skin one?" _

Kaname suddenly became expressionless.

Who are you?

_Who are you, pale skin one? _

**Who are you, Kaname? **

The answer had yet to come to him.

* * *

The Golden Flower Conference Room of The Imperial Hotel was dangerously still. The revelation of who Pureblood Queen Yuki Kuran's murdered true-love mate was had caused a variety of odd reactions.

One type of reaction was befuddled shock. Another type of reaction was understanding rage. However, there was one type of reaction that was most prevalent in the room and that reaction was…mystified confusion.

_Who in the world was Zero Kiryu?_ The majority of the room's inhabitants privately asked themselves.

Yet those in the know were utterly perplexed as to the revelations of these unexpected events.

The King's Right Arm, Takuma Ichijo, looked like he was just slapped with a big piece of hot iron. The green-eyed man stared at Rima, after which he looked briefly at Yuki, and then he turned his wide green-eye gaze to Kaname. Takuma looked as if he was trying to say something, but it seemed like the connection between Takuma's brain and Takuma's mouth were completely cut.

Rima felt Queen Yuki hold herself a bit more firmly behind her. Rima knew the woman was trying to hold herself together, but even Rima could feel the sharp waves of love lost pain radiating from the small woman at the mention of her true-love's mate name. But Rima kept her lawyer's gaze firm on her dark-eyed adversary.

King Kaname Kuran blinked once. He then met Rima's dark gaze with an odd, pained, and humiliating sort of expression.

Rima's blue eyes stayed firmly on him as she watched as Kaname's odd expression turned completely blank.

_Yes!_ _That is it._ Rima victoriously thought. _I have him._

But Kaname looked over her slowly. Then, without warning, he briefly looked at his emotionless sitting wife behind her. Next, he looked at his speechless legal representative beside him and subsequently, he returned his expressionless gaze back towards Rima.

Their eyes met for another second.

Firm womanly blue eyes crash into empty dark garnet-brown orbs.

And then Kaname_...__**smiled**_.

Unexpectedly, a chill of dark foreboding raced down Rima's stiff spine.

BING! The king's white buzzer bell rang loudly throughout the shocked and still conference room.

"Murder?" Respondent Spouse, King Kaname Kuran, asked slowly and softly in the disturbing silence. "_Murder_?" The word melted on his tongue like a sweet candy. "How can you accuse me of murder?" Then his garnet-brown eyes narrowed. He looked at Rima with unreadable eyes, but his lips were twisting into the shape of a queer little smile. "That accusation is quite an unfair charge for this situation." His eyes suddenly gleamed. "Don't you need…_evidence_ for such a bold accusation?"

Evidence?

_What possible game was he playing here?_ Rima thought to herself.

Rima leveled him with her ice-blue glare. She was about to speak, but the Queen decided at that moment _she_ would answer.

Yuki's bright red index nail finger lightly pressed her white buzzer button. BING! The loud ringing sound announced to all her intent to finally speak.

"I have the evidence." She calmly said. The entire room was on edge to hear it. "It is the revelation of your secret memories of that vile plot." She pinned Kaname with a dark promising glare. "When I took your blood to heal myself during last year's assassination, it exposed the hidden truth." She met his narrowed garnet-brown eyes without a trait of nervousness or fear. "It was you that had planned, delegated, and arranged the unjustified murder of my true-love mate and rightful husband, the late Zero Kiryu, on our wedding day."

The conference room was once again shocked into silence.

* * *

Takuma Ichijo felt like his heart was being stepped on by a fat elephant.

Kaname had...killed Zero Kiryu.

By all that is dark - Kaname was the one that had actually _killed Zero._

It rang so true. Takuma couldn't help but immediately believe it.

Takuma was standing right next to the man that had murdered such an innocent and good person. Sure, Zero had his faults but to deserve something like that...and on Zero's wedding day of all days...Takuma suddenly felt like he'd stepped into a bizarre world.

Kaname knew when to harden his heart. Kaname understood when it was time to be utterly ruthless. And Kaname excelled at the destruction of his rivals and the annihilation of all threats.

But to think that Kaname was that _wicked_...

Zero had _helped_ Kaname. He had offered his aid when he didn't need too.

There had been many times that Zero had been injured in their various battles with their various enemies. And their greatest of enemies – Rido Kuran – Zero had done his best to help him and Yuki defeat that monster of a man. In the last of death throes, Rido had tried to kill Yuki and Zero protected her. He had protected her to the point of actually laying down his life for her. Takuma had been too far away dealing with Rido's minions to actually be of help to the trio, but when Rido had finally been killed, his minions either fled or destroyed themselves.

Takuma remembered the huge blood-soaked wound that cut through that silver-haired man's body. It was probably one of the worst wounds he'd ever seen. Zero would have died if not for Yuki and the fickle grace of lady luck.

But when Yuki had chosen **Zero** _over_ **Kaname**, Takuma had felt a strange dark foreboding. But…but Kaname had _seemed_ like he was at peace with her decision.

Suddenly, Takuma remembered asking Kaname about his feelings on the new couple that was Zero and Yuki. It was on the day before their official engagement party. Takuma had come to Kaname's private home in the city and inquired if he was really okay with what was happening. Something just didn't seem right to him about Kaname's reaction and he was curious.

Yet even if he was curious and scared, Takuma felt like he could still trust Kaname.

When he had asked Kaname about his feelings, the pureblood had given him one long look. Takuma had felt like he was being judged, but when Kaname's dark eyes flickered to the fireplace, Takuma had the strangest of feelings that he had been deeply judged and not found worthy.

"I'm not exactly okay." Kaname finally said. "Yuki is someone precious to me. Therefore, I will do what will give her the best chance of happiness."

Takuma had been a bit confused at the words, but Takuma always believed the best in people and Kaname and Zero did seem to form a mutual...well, not _closeness_, but a good comradeship between each other after the official engagement.

The biggest change was Zero's behavior, really.

Zero had opened up his home to the noble vampires after that day. Takuma had spent many evening meals at Zero's apartment because of it. Takuma would ask him many things about human culture and views on certain issues and Zero in return would ask questions about vampire culture. (In truth, Takuma was there trying to learn the best ways to impress Sayori, and Takuma had a hunch that Zero was secretly amused at Takuma's not-really-hidden true intents.) Due to these brief exchanges, Zero then went the extra mile to not criticize the night world citizens as much as he used too. (Which was a miracle, really.) And soon, Senri, Hanabusa, and even the quiet Akatsuki would come over and joined their discussions more and more.

But what really took everyone back was that it was _Zero_ who was trying to _reach out_ to _Kaname_. Zero had strangely accepted Kaname's presence whenever they had their various wedding detail meetings. But beyond that, little by little, he started to include Kaname into his daily life routine.

Even Takuma at one point had question Zero's anomalous willingness to open up that much to someone like Kaname. A person that embodied everything he hated about vampires.

Zero had stared at him with his typical resilient clear lavender gaze and then heavily sighed. "It is pretty weird, huh?" He sighed again. "Well, the guy _is_ paying for everything." Zero's face suddenly glowed a mild red, and he quickly decided to defend himself. "If he's going to be getting a $50,000 bill for flowers, $100,000 for centerpieces for the guests, and $200,000 for the decoration of the venue...and I just found the cheapest item on that unholy long wedding material list today ...$3,700 for napkins! _Napkins,_ I said!" Zero heavily sighed again and rubbed his forehead. "All I'm saying is that...he needs to be there to give his credit card information to pay for it!"

Takuma's green eyes had widened considerably at the outrageous wedding costs. So, he couldn't say a word. "Plus," Zero quickly added. His eyes shifted a bit. "I don't want him to feel too left out or lonely." Then he changed the conversation.

Zero was a honest and good man. He was probably one of the best people Takuma had met in his long life.

And Kaname had plotted the murder of such a great if unusual person.

And Takuma was required to represent Zero's smiling dark murderer.

Takuma could not say a word.

* * *

Kaname gave his supposed representative a brief look.

As he suspected, Takuma would freeze over something like this. Honestly, it was a good thing that Kaname had prepared for this moment himself.

BING!

His white buzzer bell announced to all present that the king had decided that he would speak again.

The inhabitants in the room hushed their murmurings and focused on him.

Thus, like a superb and well trained actor, Kaname forced a completely surprised if sadly amused expression on his face. Then he exaggerated the movement of his head moving from side to side. He knew everyone in the room was now focused on him completely. He also felt the burning of the camera lens on his face.

_**Perfect**_**.**

Kaname gave Yuki a very understanding and very…_pitying_ look. Yuki glared at him, but he could almost hear the curious mental clogs of the numerous outer council vampires present start to turn back on and run again. "Your evidence is based solely on a supposed revelation from my dear wife's _memories_?" Kaname poignantly asked Rima. He intently looked at her with wide-eyed pity and then he shook his head again.

"To accuse one of murder isn't something that can be lightly done." King Kaname Kuran slowly said. "You seem to have no _tangible_ evidence to support this claim against me."

_Tangible? He would dare try to argue –_ Rima started to think, but Kaname continued on.

"This _intangible accusation_ is a clear defamation of my character." Kaname lightly accused.

_Defamation of Kaname's character? _

Rima thought she heard the world _snort_ at that.

But suddenly Rima become aware of all the people presence at the meeting. The vampires of the outer circle and general court were suddenly murmuring and whispering among each other. A few wondered outloud who in the world was Zero Kiryu, and which foreign pureblood family did he come from? They had to be really reclusive for them not to know about them. Some vampires voiced that they thought the strange pitying look that Kaname was giving his wife was out-of-place for a wronged husband. Still others were curious as to where the dark-eyed king was going with this.

Then Kaname gave Rima a smooth look. "Do you even have or know where the _ex-human's_ body is?" Kaname questioned her lightly.

**Ex-human. **

The vampires in the room gasped. Ex-human? The current Queen was going to marry an ex-human? The late rightful husband was an _ex-human_?

_**The true-love mate was an ex-human? **_

Rima abruptly realized what Kaname was doing. _Damn this man_. She mentally cursed.

Kaname was trying to use the inherent aristocratic vampire prejudice against lower level vampires to his advantage here. _Damn it all to hell._ Also, he was striking at the legal loophole of Yuki's reasoning and grounding. Because of it, the outer court would not be so approving to the Queen's actions now.

Rima's pink lips pressed tightly. _This bastard._ Kaname was good. They didn't have a body or the establishment of a dead body. Even though they found that awful blood-drenched cave with the hunter's unique scent, there wasn't a single piece of his flesh, bone, or even ashes there. So, there wasn't a body. In the legal world, no dead body means no murder. End of story.

Rima's shock and awe tactic was not working as well as she hoped.

_Damn it all to hell._ Rima mentally screamed. How could she turn this back around? She quickly looked at the inner circle.

They were the only people in the room that looked disturbed over the fact that Kaname had killed an ex-human vampire. Takuma Ichijo was frozen in utter shock. Hanabusa Aido looked like he ate a lemon. Akatsuki Kain looked blank but his lips twisted with severe disapproval. His wife, Ruka Souen, looked like a wide-eyed pigeon. Seiren's silver eyes flashed darkly.

Rima then turned to the two children. Haruka and Juri looked equally flabbergasted. However, it didn't seem like they understood what exactly was going on. Juri gave both her parents confused looks but Haruka gave a livid glare at his father.

The hunters were another matter entirely. One look at them and Rima knew those four believed everything that she and Yuki had accused Kaname of doing. The elderly President Yagari's single blue eyes blazed with a fury that could burn the room if he let it out. Vice President Takamiya looked sick to his stomach. His grand-niece, Kagome, looked confused but equally outraged at the developments, but it was Cross that gave Rima the chills.

Kaien Cross looked like he had sharply reverted back to his rarely seen old self. When Rima briefly met his baby brown eyes with her own, Rima had the chilling understanding that she was looking into the eyes of the man once called "The Vampire Without Fangs."

This isn't good at all.

However, everyone else in the room acted like such a thing was no big deal. Purebloods created and discard ex-humans with a frequency that was quite usual and normal. Nobles, in general, snobbishly looked down their noses on all vampire classes lower than themselves. Thus, a vampire king killing an ex-human wasn't really a big deal. In fact, one couldn't even consider such a thing a crime.

It happened all the time.

Kaname felt a joyous dark warmth in his heart. Everything was going according to Kaname's predictions but he was _far_ from done. "Also, it isn't established if the supposed 'rightful' husband in question is even dead." He looked at Yuki and gave her a mockingly pitying look. He knew he next words would enrage her. He wanted her enraged. Her anger would do greatly to assist his next tactic against her. "He could have simply abandoned the event and gone to another country or realm."

Yuki's dark-brown eyes flashed a deadly crimson hue. Kaname could see her squeezing her hands into tight fists.

All the inner circle members and hunters glared at Kaname. What a bald-faced suggestion and worthless suspicion! Which Zero Kiryu was he talking about? A Zero Kiryu that would have _not_ marry Yuki? Such a thing could never have happened! Zero Kiryu would have never abandoned that special event or flee to another country! And Kaname was there when -

But Kaname went on even further.

"And even _**if**_ there was the possibility that I had plotted to dispose of the ex-human," Kaname slowly mocked to all present, "That event happened one hundred years ago. Unlike humans, we vampires have a statute of limitations on crimes of murder." Kaname smile become lightly dark. "And unfortunately, that time has just passed...two hour ago."

Rima wanted to rip that gloating smile off his face. _You have got to be freaking kidding me?_ Rima thought. But suddenly she realized something. It was him. He was the reason behind the delay.

By darkness, was that part of Kaname's plan?

_Damn this man._ Rima thought to herself. _Damn him. Damn him! __**Damn him!**_

Suddenly, a smooth thick voice echoed throughout the room. "We will now proceed with Stage Four and Stage Five of this Divorce Session." The moderating African Queen, Biashara Bimnono, said. "Respondent Spouse, King Kaname Kuran, please get ready to begin."

* * *

Yuki Kuran felt like everything she had planned was somehow failing apart.

The ability of that man to sink so low and so viciously made her wonder what great delusion she was under when she had decided to marry him.

First, he denies the fact that he murdered her true love. Then he suggests that Zero wasn't even dead but off somewhere sun-bathing in another country, even though _he was there with her in that blood drenched cave._ After that, he mocks her with the fact that even if he did murder Zero, he couldn't be legally prosecuted for it because of the bias structure of the vampire court system anyway.

Yuki was not just angry - she wanted to shred that evil man before her apart. What was next? What else could he do? She was struggling - and failing - to keep her calm, but her arms were shaking. If she didn't control herself soon, her red nails would be painted with the new crimson hue of her own blood.

The African Queen started her part in this first court session meeting again. "Do you, Respondent Spouse, King Kaname Kuran, accept the groundings for the proposed divorce by the Petitioning Spouse, Queen Yuki Kuran?"

Kaname shot a quick look at the ebony ruler but then he turned his gaze back around to Yuki.

And he gave her a cold queer smile.

"No." He calmly said.

Yuki's livid heart suddenly squeezed with foreboding.

"By what reason or reasons do you have to not accept?" The African Queen neutrally questioned.

Kaname continued to look at Yuki. But she couldn't understand the _meaning_ behind his look but...that feeling of dread was now chocking her. "I don't believe that the marriage is damage beyond repair." Kaname said. His queer smile was still on his evilly handsome face. "And I am making a countersuit against the accusing party for full legal control over the defendant because I doubt her qualification to even demand such a permanent arrangement."

_Full legal control over the defendant? _

Once again, the entire room fell into total shock. Did the sky just turn green or something? And King Kaname doubted Queen Yuki's qualification to demand such a permanent arrangement? What in the world? How exactly did he come to that ridiculous conclusion?

Yuki was speechless, but Rima's blue eyes narrowed in alarm. Kaname's smile was far too unsettling for her liking. "By what grounds do you make such a claim against my client?" Rima heatedly demanded.

The vile serpent king did not even bother to grant her a look. His focus was completely on Yuki.

And his cold queer smile became twenty degree colder.

Kaname trapped Yuki with his imperial dark garnet-brown gaze. "My claim is based on the grounds that my spouse is currently experiencing an acute and severe phase of her previously hidden _mental illness_." Kaname said lightly. "Currently, she isn't in a rational state of mind. Therefore, she should not be making such important decisions until after her various treatments." His deep voice sounded kind but his eyes were ominous and gloating.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** What? :D You thought Kaname was going to be taken down that easily? X3 That wouldn't be the pureblood we all love/hate now would it? (Dodges an exploding tomato.) Ahem. Until next chapter, my dear readers! XD Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long – I love them all! :)


	49. Chapter 48 First Court Session, Part III

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

The Golden Flower Conference Room was again shocked into speechlessness. One could hardly hear a breath, whisper, or movement in the entire court room. Every creature - man, woman, child, pureblood, noble, human – looked at the Far Eastern King with unsealed astonishment.

King Kaname Kuran felt a dark warmth inside his cold and harden heart. The razor sharp focus of attention made him feel a powerful surge of imperial energy, vigor, and might.

Therefore, Kaname Kuran felt like reminding the world on _who exactly he was._

**_He_** was Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire King Kaname Kuran: Ancestor of the Kuran Line, the Royal Night Lord of Japan, Leader of the Eastern Pacific Vampire Coalition, and the to-be emperor of the entire world.

Did they actually think that _one_ sin from his past would be enough to take him down?

Yuki had truly forgotten who she was actually dealing with.

He would take great pleasure in remaining her and the world of **_who he was._**

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Eight: First Court Session, Part III**

* * *

**Present**

Silver Night felt like he was viciously awaken from a pleasing dream.

He was in his master's private hotel room but he found no comfort in the luxurious and expensive furniture or decorations. Even the fact that he was in such a private domain – The King's Chamber Suite of The Imperial – gave Silver no satisfaction, no glee, or even contentment.

Like a wild white beast, Silver restlessly paced back and forth in his master's hotel suite. His long silver hair whipped around him as he impatiently paced. Thousands of thoughts and millions of emotions were ripping through him and he felt like everything that he had planned, decided, and desired was falling apart. It was probably the first in an extremely long time that Silver felt such a chaotic state of emotions.

Silver felt like that the relationship between himself and his master had come to a terrible forked road. And this two-path forked road was an extremely familiar one to Silver. This road had always appeared to him before with his other masters and Silver felt… _peculiar_…of suddenly coming to this forked road again.

Within Silver's heart, he felt the sharp stinting edges of panic. He also felt the burning slashes of fright and the frosty kisses of terror. Indescribable were Silver's emotions, but there was one emotion that he felt above all. One emotion that dulled his panic, covered his fright, and locked away his internal terror.

And that one emotion was…**_fury_**.

As Silver restlessly paced in his master's private suite, his purple-gray orbs narrowed in _utter fury_.

**_How dare that blasted pureblooded jailor force-command him do to anything?_**

Silver was utterly _livid_.

Master Kaname _dared_ to _force-command_ _him. Him! _Silver Night, himself!

Did not his master remember his titles? Did not his master remember who he was?

_He_ was Silver Night, the Moonlight Siren. _He_ was Silver Night, the King of Pleasure. _He_ was Silver Night, the Master of Love.

**_He was Silver Night, the Harbinger of Dream's Destruction._**

The fact that his accursed jailor would dare to force-command him - and force-command him on something so **basic** - _pissed_ Silver off to untold ends.

The sheer degree of Silver's distaste and anger at his master gnawed on his black soul, but this emotional wound had achieved one little thing. At least one little glorious thing and that glorious accomplishment was that it awaken him from his _anomalous_ _complacency_.

The past few months with his new master, King Kaname Kuran, had been like a far-off dream and Silver had been too relax with his various methods and goals. Honestly, while Silver had schemed and seduced the man in order to ensure his continuous existence, Silver had been somewhat _comfortable_ around the pureblood. After all, despite the numerous faults of his master, the man was the epitome of a powerful vampire ruler. And, as a relatively powerless person, having such a creature inside his hidden hand gave Silver a feeling of dark pride.

Even though his master believed that _he_ was the leader of their dance, Silver secretly knew that his control over the man's being was carefully and easily growing. Therefore, these last few months had felt like a pleasing retreat to Silver. They had been an escape. A slow far-off holiday. But because of that, Silver Night had forgotten many things.

He had forgotten. _He had forgotten_. **He had forgotten.**

Silver had forgotten so many things since he came into the possession of that dark-eyed pureblood and the knowledge of his foolishness enraged him.

Silver Night had forgotten _who_ and _what_ he _was_.

The sudden understanding of his thoughts calmed him, and Silver stopped his tiredly pacing.

_Who was Silver Night?_ The silver-haired man thought to himself as he looked into a large golden living room mirror. _Who was Silver Night, really?_

Well, Silver was many things.

He was a master seducer. He was a creator of real life fantasies. He was an ideal lover to any soul that claimed him.

But he was also an unwilling vampire sex slave. He was lost soul and an incomplete being. He was shadow person - a half man, no…a half _thing_.

Yet first and foremost, Silver Night was a destroyer.

He was a furious destroyer of selfish people's lives. He was a vengeful spirit of those who had no power. A cruel deceiver that found great pleasure in ripping apart the lives of those who took and stolen the souls and lives of others.

Apparently, his master had gotten _far_ **too** **comfortable** around him that the man thought he could simply force-command Silver and not have to face a **consequence**. _Indeed_. His newest master had dared to do that uncalled for act, and Silver had suddenly been viciously reminded of what his supposed place was.

How foolish.

Silver wasn't about to let that vile act go _unpunished_.

Many would think that Silver's reaction to his master's first force-command of him was a simple manner. An error. An abnormality in behavior. Many would think that his reaction to his master's act wasn't something he should be highly concerned about or would have him believe that his master wasn't a cruel one for doing something so basic to the master-doll experience.

Silver strongly digressed. He could recognized this for was it was.

**Dominance**.

He master was displaying his dominance over him.

And one thing that Silver truly hatred in the entire world was when a person tried to exercise authority or dominance _over _**_him_**_._

Thus, there were two paths Silver could now decide to take with his master after these events. Two paths that Silver could choose. However, Silver had come to such a road before with all his other previous masters, and whenever Silver had come to this terrible forked road choice, he always choose the same path over and over again.

**Destruction**.

Silver decided that his pureblood master should fall to the fate of all his previous ones.

The man should have remembered Silver Night's history and past. No soul has ever kept Silver for more than 2 years or 24 months or 730 days.

So, while Silver Night was currently the King's Doll.

In the end, he would be the King's Destroyer.

* * *

To say that Queen Biashara Bimnono was amazed by the recent developments of the First Court Session of King Kuran and Queen Kuran would be the greatest of understatements.

Honestly, it felt to her like she was witnessing history repeat itself. By all that is dark! The Queen had, in essence, demanded that the Far Eastern Realm be split into two domains! And the King had, in essence, refused such a demand and claimed that his spouse was mentally impaired and thus demanded full legal control over her being.

Honestly, how exactly was Biashara going to calm this intense situation?

She narrowed her black eyes on the oddly expressed Far Eastern King. The man's face seemed to be fixed in a typically pitying expression, but his eyes and even his lips were darkly twisting was a terrible glee. Biashara didn't like that look and she wasn't about to let one spouse in this entire foolish affair gain an unfair advantage under her watch.

"What evidence do you have to claim that the Petitioning Spouse, Queen Kuran, is not in her natural mental state, Respondent Spouse, King Kuran?" The African Queen neutrally asked the Far Eastern Ruler.

There was an intense moment of silence in the room.

King Kuran looked at his wife and then he looked at her stunned legal representative. Next, he turned to his also-surprised representative and his eyes seemed to become a bit cooler in their reflection of his hidden dark glee.

King Kuran then reached towards his white buzzer bell and pressed it. "My evidence is based on the fact that my dear wife has had _previous _episodes of mental instability and madness that has been kept a royal house secret for the duration of our marriage and my reign."

Queen Biashara blinked. _Really?_ She thought to herself. _How curious._

However, the Queen's Legal Representative, Rima Touya, growled. _This snake king bastard!_ How dare he? How dare he to make such a false accusation against Yuki?

Rima was utterly enraged at the unfair attack and she made sure the entire room knew it! "Ridiculous!" The noble woman fearlessly hissed at her ruler. "Absolutely ridiculous!" Her ice blue eyes narrowed in disgust. "This is an unfair attack against the Petitioning Spouse's character."

Kaname simply raised a mocking dark-brown eyebrow at her and Rima nearly saw red. "In no way, shape, or form has the Queen had _any_ history of mental instability." Rima rashly defended.

Kaname's garnet-brown eyes suddenly _glowed_ with _dire triumph_.

And Rima realized her mistake.

**Oh no**.

Rima felt a cold wave of shock rush down her spine.

No. No. **No**.

She rapidly understood what that evil bastard was going to do.

No. No. No. **No**.

_This snake bastard wouldn't dare use - _

Kaname looked at Rima and darkly smirked.

_He was_. Rima thought to herself in breathless terror. _He really was._

"Outer Court Executive Assistant, Kai Ryunei, please hand me my evidence proving my wife's mental instability." The Serpent King lightly announced.

* * *

_Kaname was trying to demand full legal control over her?_

Queen Yuki Kuran watched in thunderstruck incredulity as her husband received a large stack of documents from his nervous assistant.

_Kaname was trying to say she had a mental illness?_

Yuki watched as Kaname took the stack of documents from his assistant and held them up for all to see. Then Kaname looked at her briefly and finally, he turned to the curious Moderating Queen.

Yuki felt _**cold**_.

With the attention of the entire room upon him, Kaname started his case. "It has been an established fact within the royal household that before the royal marriage, the current Queen experienced a period of madness for a five-year period."

Yuki felt ice water flow under her skin as the court listened to her husband's chilling words with a haunting breathlessness. "Before the state of our marriage, she suffered from schizophrenia and a host of other psychotic disorders. She also experienced hallucinations, delusions, and numerous disordered thought processes." Kaname continued. "What I have in my hand are the special notes of her two caretakers, Commander Seiren and Lady Souen-Kain, during that long time period."

In the audience, Seiren looked revolted and Ruka looked horror-struck. They had written those notes to Kaname as a favor to him when they watched over Yuki during her Lost Five Year's time period! But to think he had collected and saved those private notes of theirs and would used them for something like _this_...

**This was terrible. **

Rima was livid. Kaname was using Yuki's previous mental condition that HE CAUSED against her like this? Rima knew that Kaname was an evil bastard, but this was low. Even for him. _Damn it._ Takuma looked appalled. Hanabusa appeared disgusted. Akatsuki was sickened. All the members of the inner circle knew this was a dirty trick of the lowest kind against Yuki!

Rima was utterly and completely furious. This accursed snake! How dare he?_ How dare he?_

"These documents show the range, stages, and degree of her insanity during that time period." Kaname effortlessly continued his case.

Fury. **Loathing**. _Amazement_. **Disbelief**.

Rima couldn't describe what she was feeling at this moment. She felt like everything she was working for was quickly falling apart. She would have never thought Kaname would do something so _cruel_. He killed Zero. Then he pretended that he didn't do it. Next, he then uses the consequence of the true-love bond break between Zero and Yuki that caused Yuki's madness against her like this?

_Really?_

Rima could barely form a word.

Yet Kaname continued on with _his_. He could see that Yuki was defenseless and that knowledge thrilled him. _Good_.

"It is clear to me that once she separated herself from my careful care and consideration, her illness has exacerbated to a severe degree and thus she is experiencing a distorted perception of past events and confused thinking." He then pined Yuki with a dark kingly gaze. "The fact of the matter is, is that my wife has had a long history of mental illness. Therefore, can you really take her testimony _seriously_?"

_Damn you, Kaname._ Rima thought bitterly to herself. _Damn you. Damn you. Damn you_. She mentally chanted.

Due to the fact that this trial would be before an objective judge and jury, Kaname's claim of Yuki's mental instability was a possibility for them to consider. After all, pureblood vampires going mad was not uncommon and those damn records of the past that Kaname had in his hand were written by two of Yuki's closest friends! Nearly everything would be put on hold until they could make it clear that Yuki wasn't suffering from a mental disorder, but the damage had been done.

"My poor wife ran around the globe like a lost and mad dog after the lost of her ex-human." Kaname lightly drawled. _Damn this man!_ Rima mentally screamed. That entire sentence was created to cause Yuki pain! "However, I wish for her future happiness and contentment." His mere voice crawled against Rima's skin. "Perhaps after she has had her various treatments and therapy, she'll reconsider her current course."

Yuki and Rima could only _look_ at the queer smiling pureblood man.

_**Unbelievable.**_

However, while the inner circle members and hunters were stunned at Kaname's words and actions, the rest of the audience members were buzzing with whispered opinions and mocking viewpoints.

The current Queen was driven insane because of the death of an ex-human? A pureblood was true-love bonded and going to marry an ex-human?

_Wasn't that a sign of her madness already? _

Rima felt cold.

The vampire world wouldn't favor the Queen so easily now.

_What could she do?_ Rima thought in herself as she looked at the angry and pained Yuki. _What in the world could they do?_

* * *

Queen Biashara Bimnono had to hand it to her fellow vampire ruler. Clearly the man knew his way out of a sticky situation. While Biashara had heard of the man's mythical cunning and techniques, to see it in person was quite a different story.

Ho. _Ho_. What a terrifying force this man is.

However, Biashara wasn't about to allow the King his desired way. The African Queen looked at the pained Kuran Queen. In the woman's dark-brown orbs, the ebony queen knew that the woman and her representative were telling the truth of her true-love's death. Like most of her peers, the Pureblood African didn't care much for ex-humans, but not necessarily for the insipid reasons her kind usually held.

Humans were creatures of light to her.

Therefore, it wasn't right, to Biashara at least, to steal such a creature of the sun from their place and force them into the moon world of nightfall.

Conversely, the fact that such a creature had captured the heart of one of her peers filled Biashara with a sense of pity. Both for the late man and the lost woman. Still, Biashara could not allow her pity to cloud her sense of justice.

So, how could she fairly judge?

The entire audience in the Golden Flower Conference room awaited Queen Biashara's next words. The moderating queen took in the two warring spouses and decided that she needed two vital elements before she could make a fair and balance decision.

Biashara wanted more time and better evidence before she allowed this divorce to continue.

She announced to all in the room. "The Exploratory Phase of the Divorce Trial between King Kuran and Queen Kuran will now come to an end." Her deep voice echoed throughout the room. "Yet due to a lack of an amicable agreement between the two spouses, this trial will move on to the second act of vampire divorce – the Judgment Phase."

King Kaname's garnet-brown eyes glowed, while Queen Yuki's dark-brown eyes burned.

"However, by law and ordinance, we cannot proceed with this divorce hearing until after the evidence for the various claims made today have been verified. Petitioning Spouse, Queen Yuki Kuran must establish the fact that Respondent Spouse, King Kuran was responsible for her true-love mate's death." The moderating queen decided. "Respondent Spouse, King Kaname Kuran, must also establish that Petitioning Spouse, Queen Yuki Kuran, isn't in a stable state of mental clarity and awareness **_currently_**."

Both spouses' eyes flashed darkly against each other.

Biashara would have none of that. She slammed her judge's gavel down with loud force.

"This First Court Session between King Kuran and Queen Kuran has come to its conclusion." Queen Biashara Bimnono judged.

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** Ha ha! So end the first court session of Kaname and Yuki! XD I hope you guys enjoyed my twisting plot with it. I think this first head-to-head battle between the two went somewhat well, no? (Dodges a pineapple.) X3 Anyways, thanks for reading my precious readers and please leave me your thoughts in a maravlous review! Short or long – I love them all! :D


	50. Chapter 49 Repercussions

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

As the newly instated Vampire Hunter's Association President, Toga Yagari drily stared at his student-son over a cup of warm coffee at the newly opened Hunter's diner, The Gray Panther.

Zero Kiryu had healed nicely after their final fight against the vile Rido Kuran and Toga was extremely glad for that. Well, he was still a bit annoyed that Zero had gotten so dangerous close to death…_again_….However, Toga was also a bit peeved that his student-son was helping those night bastards so much. Honestly, if it was up to Toga, he wouldn't want the kid to have to deal with such things really. Sure, the kid was talented and strong. But Toga still didn't want the kid to be involved in this type work in the long run. He had enough sorrow in his relatively young life. More so than the average person. Heck, he had had more sorrow than the average human vampire hunter! And _that_ was _saying something_!

Nevertheless, while Toga would much prefer if Zero decided to live a life of a mountain hermit then continue with vampire hunting, he felt a…**warm pride**…in knowing that his student-son, despite all the difficulties in his life was becoming Toga's idea of an ideal vampire hunter.

An ideal vampire hunter, in Toga's opinion, wasn't the person who had the fastest reflexes, strongest moves, and awing power. Plenty of hunters who had had those skills were dead and not even remembered on this earth anymore. No, to Toga, it wasn't what a hunter could and could not do. What mattered was _why_ a hunter was a hunter in the first place.

In Toga's relatively long experience in vampire hunting, Toga had decided that there were really only two types of vampire hunters.

The first type of vampire hunter was the type that hunted for the sheer _thrill_ of it. To be able to test yourself, fight, plan, and win against such a terrifying enemy was something that Toga could deeply relate too, but didn't think was an ideal trait in a human defender. But because the world had gotten so small and fast, and there were so few things that could test a man's will, fighting against such a dark force like vampires gave such type of hunters a direction, joy, and hope in life. It was like how an artist would paint or a sportsman would play his beloved game, this type of vampire hunter hunted vampires because the thrill of it made them alive.

Yet, those types of hunters always ended up dead before thirty.

Nevertheless, the second type of vampire hunter was the one that hunted because they wanted to _protect_. Toga, and in a developing sense Zero, was this second class of vampire hunter.

But just like it wasn't natural for a civilian to become a soldier, killing and destroying did not come natural to this class of vampire hunter, even if they had a high potential talent for it when properly instructed and trained. However, it was this type of hunter that had longevity in this area of life.

**To protect. **

Hunters who hunted because they believed that it was their duty to protect humanity at large, fared far better than those who just hunted because they liked the thrill of it. Toga was that kind of hunter and when looking back on his various Hunter's Association rivals, he knew his philosophy was what kept him alive and relatively sane. Vampires were a sick group and many killed for the sheer pleasure it gave them. Therefore, if a hunter was the same way, how could he or she justify their actions in the eyes of heaven, the law, and the people?

The sad fact of the matter was that they _couldn't_.

Thus the ones that hunted to protect were the only type of _true_ hunters, in Toga's opinion. And that's what he encourage in his student-son.

So, it gave Toga a type of great fatherly pride in seeing that his student-son was so apt at not only _fighting_ but also _protecting_. And really, he had only one person to thank for this.

Yuki.

By the sword of blood! After Masa's and Kyo Kiryu's uncalled for murder, the boy had become so distant and lost. And even then, Toga knew that _he_ wasn't the best type of person to deal with a broken child. So he had pretty much drop-kicked the boy onto Kaien's front door and hoped for the best. Kaien was a far more…_emotional_….person than him, so Toga thought Kaien would be the best type of influence on his little broken student. However, even Kaien wasn't able to break the strong walls of Zero's personality and Toga had felt grim for the boy's future.

For years, in his darkest moments, Toga wanted to torture and murder that evil bitch Shizuka for the crimes she had committed against his student-son.

Thank the heavens for little Yuki!

If not for that girl's presence and perseverance in helping Zero open up, Toga knew the boy would have become the first type of thrill hunter or worst – a blood-lusting Level E vampire.

Therefore, even if Toga didn't like the fact that Zero was so intimately connected to the bloodsucking leeches of the night world, he knew why his student-son was doing it.

To protect his love and savior - Yuki Cross-Kuran.

Ironically, once about a upon, Toga didn't like the fact that that supposed little human girl was so close to an unstable Level D (Toga _was_ a _human_ protector, first and foremost, after all), but then Yuki was revealed to be a pureblood vampire and, paradoxically, Toga had been glad for it.

While it solved so many problems (Example: Forever stopping Zero's descent into Level E madness), Toga couldn't find a fault in the pairing. Even when they were cute small children, friendly middle-schoolers, and hyper teens, Toga always gave his stoic student-son and Kaien's little adopted daughter the infamous side-eye when he watched their interactions.

Zero and Yuki.

Yuki and Zero.

Honestly, the pair matched each other so perfectly. (Plus, the pairing was sort of like a big middle finger to the ancient vampire customs and culture. And Toga wasn't above insulting the blood leeches, especially in so positive a way!)

Still, Toga was Zero's only father figure and manly role model for the boy. (To Toga, Kaien didn't count as a real man – the idiot was far too stupid in his Mr. Chibi Idiot Mode and far too scary in his Mr. Vampire Killer mode – he had absolutely _no_ balance _at all_ in his two personas, thus he wasn't the best how-to-be-a-man example to Zero, in Toga's humble and rude opinion.) Therefore, Toga had the duty to give his son an old fashion man-to-man and father-to-son pep talk on his future role as a husband.

Zero was a bit suspicious as he stared at his teacher over a cup of warm coca. "I don't like that look of yours, teacher." Zero wirily said. His clear lavender eyes almost seemed to dare Toga to say something smart to him.

Oh?

Toga liked dares.

Toga's lips twisted in a fatherly smirk. "I'm just surprised is all." Toga said. "You actually got a woman to want to marry the likes of you?" Toga's voice tone had an amused edge to it. "I feel sorry for Yuki."

"Humph." Zero said in a warning closed tone, but then Zero's lavender eyes flashed a bit mysteriously. "At least _I _have a _girl_." He smirked to himself.

Toga's blue eye twitched. _What was that suppose to mean?_

"Watch it, brat." Toga said. "I could still wipe you out with my little pinky finger if you push me."

"Humph." Zero said again. Death threats from his teacher were strangely become so common place to Zero that he didn't take it seriously anymore. "But how long are you going to play the Bachelor, teacher?" Zero ignored the warning and challenging asked the one-eyed man. "Do you want to end up being that creepy old guy in the nursing home hitting on the young nurses?"

The future image nearly caused Toga to chock on his coffee.

Toga stared. Since when did his student get so smart at the mouth with him? _Humph_. But Toga could give as good as he got though.

"Ha. So says you." Toga raised a black eyebrow at his student-son. "_Women_ are all the _same_ in the _dark_."

Zero's lavender eyes widen at the crass comment and he slowly blinked for a moment.

Then Zero's face became a _blazing_ _red_.

He pushed further. "_Poor you_. " Toga's lips twitched. "Now, you'll never get to sample all the different favors in the world."

The red in Zero's cheeks became _crimson_.

"I'm not about to follow in Aido's footsteps!" Zero loudly shot back in his defense. "AIDS is a real thing!"

Toga simply stared at his student. Then he suddenly barked out his rare laughter.

Leave to it to Zero to immediately think of all the different repercussions for irresponsible behavior. Honestly, what an old/young man Zero was!

Still, it took a while until Zero's face found its natural color after a few moments. Goodness, his teacher wasn't about to preach to him about the birds and the bees was he? Zero didn't think he could live through that!

Toga lightly scratched under his nose and he suddenly became serious. "But you do know it's a big responsibility being a good husband, right?" Toga's blue eyes looked at him solemnly. "Despite all that third-wave feminist bullshit you hear nowadays, men and women aren't the same and they're never going to be the same."

Toga sighed. "A man is like metal. Metal supports, protects, and defends, but in the end, it's really quite common and simple. However, a woman is like a jewel. And jewels should be protected, cherished, and loved. Each woman is like a new and rare jewel, so you got to care for her like she's the only one in the world."

Toga pinned him with an austere gaze. "If you don't, you'll regret it."

Zero look at his teacher, and while a smart-mouth part of him wanted to remark that getting love and relationship advice from an thirty-something bachelor wasn't exactly the greatest thing in the world, Zero knew that the older man knew what he was talking about and that he meant every word. So now wasn't the time for Zero to give his usual snappy comeback remarks.

"I'm never going to regret it." Zero met his father-teacher's blue eye. "Yuki is like my life. I'll let nothing happen to her. _She'll always be protected by me_."

"Humph. I'll remember those words then." Toga drawled, but he was internally very pleased.

Zero Kiryu really was a son after Toga's own heart and philosophies.

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Nine: Repercussions**

* * *

**Present**

Despite the fact that Rima was struggling to keep up with her as she marched towards The Queen's White Wing Building of The Imperial Hotel, Queen Yuki Kuran felt the dark hatred she had inside of her for her husband become a bloated leech that was happily gnawing on the iciness of her soul.

_"Do you even have or know where the __ex-human's __body is?_

Ex-human.

_Ex-human. _

**Ex-human. **

The bastard hadn't even have the common courtesy to use her Zero's name.

Yuki felt so murderous that she could barely think.

A potion of inky red darkness swirled inside her soul as she marched. Nearly everything around her was being blocked out by her senses. Yuki could not see, nor could she hear. Yuki's sense of smell was dying and if she were to taste something – anything – it was either be tasteless or bitter on her tongue.

Yuki could also not _feel_.

She couldn't feel a thing at this moment.

_"Also, it isn't establish if the supposed 'rightful' husband in question is even dead. He could have simply abandoned the event and gone to another country or realm."_

No. Those previous statements of hers were lies. Yuki could feel something. She could feel something so utterly, completely, and heavily in her black heart that she could feel nothing else other than it.

That 'it' was….**RAGE**.

Pure, unholy, unfiltered RAGE.

_**Rip**__. _

_Tear._

_**Cleave**__. _

_Split. _

Yuki felt her limited hold on sanity **crack**.

_How dare he?_ How dare he even suggest such a thing?

Kaname was there with her in that blood drenched cave that was covered in his unique scent of sandalwood. By darkness, Yuki would give anything - anything at all - if that evil mocking bastard's false theory had a slight hint of truth.

If Zero was alive and well, she wouldn't care about anything else. She wouldn't care how or why or anything at all. By darkness, Yuki would give anything she could if it could bring Zero back to her.

But she knew the truth.

The mated true-love vampire bonds were so strong that if a vampire mated pair was to be unintentional separated – disaster would occur.

Vampire mated bonds could only be broken in a selected amount of ways. However, the most common way for the bond to be destroyed was the unexpected death of a vampire mate. Due to the fact that the love-bond would be destroyed without the consent of either party, the breaking of the bond would ruin the surviving mate's soul.

Zero's and Yuki's true-love bond had been torn apart three days before she found that accursed sandalwood cave.

Even back then, Yuki had denied it. She refused to believe what her mind was telling her. She continued on to believe that he was okay. That she was going to find him. That she and Zero would go back home together and start their lives.

She had so stupidly hoped if only…

_"I am making a countersuit against the accusing party for full legal control over the defendant because I doubt her qualification to even demand such a permanent arrangement."_

The hot rage in her heart suddenly became cool.

No, not cool.

**Cold**.

The rage inside her was _so_ cold.

The man that murdered her Zero…

The man that caused her to unknowingly murder their unborn child in the womb…

The man that made her into a vile wretched crazy thing that was not even a shadow of her past brightness…

That man…**dared**…to _demand_…full legal control over…her being?

Yuki would sooner dance with bloody feet on Kaname's cold grave then allow such a thing to _**ever**_ happen.

_"My poor wife ran around the globe like a lost and mad dog after the lost of her ex-human."_

Like a lost and mad dog.

_Lost and mad dog. _

**Lost and mad dog. **

That was how Kaname described her when she lost herself.

To him, she had been _a lost and mad dog. _

There had been no shame. Not even a hint of regret could have been found in his voice over the consequences of his past evil actions.

Like _a lost and mad dog_ she had been.

Or was she one **currently**?

"Yuki!" Rima called out to her. "We can think of a way out of this! Please don't think this is –"

Yuki looked at her friend silently, and Rima immediately closed her mouth.

Like _a lost and mad dog_.

"Leave me be for the rest of the night and day." Yuki's voice was so…_**dead**_…but her eyes! By darkness, her eyes. Rima took in a sharp breath. Yuki's dark-brown eyes were replaced with a frightening bloodlusting crimson hue.

Red. _Red_. **Red**.

All Yuki could see now was _**red**_.

_**Like a lost and mad dog**_.

Rima could only watch after the scarlet clothed woman's iron-straight back.

* * *

Butler Rio was greatly unease.

He had just finished watching the King's and Queen's First Court Session on his small television set in his private servant room that was located two doors away from The King's Chamber Suite of The Imperial's Red Wing Building.

By darkness, the elderly Rio didn't know what to think or feel at this moment.

He had always known that his King was a cunning and merciless man, but the fact that the man was able to use those vicious characteristics of his against his dear wife was extremely discomforting. After all, Rio had always believed that the Queen was something like a steady safety valve against King Kuran's darker tendencies. She was one of the few people that could discourage him from using a harsher method than necessary when dealing with various conflicts or problems. However, to see that even she wasn't immune to the King's heavy hand was something of a vicious awakening to Butler Rio.

That poor woman.

One had to wonder if she had committed a great sin in a past life to deserve such terrible blows.

That poor, poor woman. Rio felt desperately sorry for her. He wished her life hadn't gone so off course. Perhaps if her true-love mate had lived….she wouldn't be the sad thing she was today.

But by all that is dark! Rio was amazed. There had been another. Another mate that was the true-love mate to the sad and always-faraway Queen.

That man had been called Zero Kiryu.

The big question was there – Who in the world was Zero Kiryu?

Rio didn't know but the last name sounded strangely _familiar_ to him. Which was odd because Rio didn't know many ex-humans by name, so why was that unknown name so familiar to him?

Kiryu.

Hmmm, Rio swiftly decided that he would investigate into the manner. Despite the fact that Rio knew it wasn't his business, he wanted to know who this special late ex-human vampire was that was the center of this entire affair.

Rio resolved that he would figure out who Queen Kuran's ex-human true-love mate Zero Kiryu was. After all, Rio was a servant of the royal house and he had a feeling that knowing who the critical link was in this scary chain of events would allow him to make the best decisions for the future.

Still, another question remained - how was this even possible? How could a pureblood vampire fall in love with an ex-human?

Purebloods were a notoriously difficult class of vampires to deal with. If Rio's relatively limited experience was anything to go by. So how could a pureblood vampire fall in love with an ex-human and form a true-love bond with such a creature? This Zero Kiryu surely had to be something indeed! The true-love mate bond was one of the rarest and most precious of bonds a vampire could ever experience! Rio had lived for an extremely long time and he had only seen two such bonds exist! (Well, one, for now. Apparently King Kuran and Queen Kuran didn't have a true-love bond! My, my wonders never stop do they?)

Rio would have thought that only vampires of equal rank and/or power could form such an intense bond. But the fact that the Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire Queen had once formed a true-love bond with an ex-human would surely rock the global vampire world for centuries to come.

Honestly, why did strange things always have to happen around poor old Rio?

* * *

**Three Hours Later…**

"If you take a knife and slice a throat! Slice a throat! Slice a throat! If you take a knife and slice a throat, then it will bleed red water." Yoshiro Yamamoto, The Queen's Dark Hand, sang quietly to himself.

He had not felt this alive since the day he first met his precious dark lady queen.

So, of course, he felt like singing!

He finally saw it again.

He finally saw his lovely Queen's dark-brown eyes blaze with that unique marvelous _mad_ red of hers again. It was so pretty. So very, _very_ pretty. He had not seen such a pretty look in her eyes for quite some time, and to know that she was embarking on another bloodletting adventure filled Yoshiro with a shivering glee he hadn't felt in ages.

Finally! Finally! Finally!

War! Battle! Blood! Death! They were finally happening again! It had been too long. Too long! Too long!

Yoshiro wanted to sing another tune in order to celebrate this happy occasion!

What type of kingdom would his lovely dark queen build? Would it be a kingdom of darkness and power and blood and death? Oh, Yoshiro dearly hoped so. He dearly, dearly hoped so. Only such a kingdom could befit his dark lady queen!

Wait. Wait. Wait.

All Yoshiro had to do was _wait!_ He had waited for the Queen to revert back to the first self he had met those many years ago. He knew that one day it would happen! And he was finally seeing some of the beginning signs!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Yoshiro had never liked her husband. The stupid, stupid, ugly King. Yoshiro was quite upset when his precious dark lady married that stupid ugly man. The man thought he was _too_ good to kill with his own hands. Humph. Worthless snob! Unworthy nave! Pure-blood, smear-blood. He wanted to smear her husband's pure-blood so much and perhaps Yoshiro would yet get a chance too! He wanted revenge against him after all these years.

After all, that stupid ugly man had tamed her.

Tamed her!

Tamed his beloved dark lady queen!

No. No. No.

The stupid ugly man had tamed her and made her the same as _him_, and _not_ like Yoshiro anymore.

He was so mad and sad because of that!

Then his lovely dark lady queen went and had children! And that further separated him from her! She became cold and soft. Yoshiro had cried. He much preferred her hot and sharp! Hot and Sharp! But Yoshiro believed that if he held on, he would one day see the one he wished to serve again.

He wished for it. Dreamed for it.

Now, he could feel it coming.

A war was approaching! Finally! A war fought by his lovely dark lady queen was finally coming!

So, to celebrate, Yoshiro sang another song of death.

"Cut, Cut, Cut, a fool! Tear his limbs and bones! Murder, Murder, Murder, Murder, Life is but a dream!" Yoshiro hummed another tune to himself.

A wonderful terror was coming.

**To the Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** So ends another chapter of Silver Night! XD This is the beginning of month five of me writing this tale! Wow! How time flies, huh? :D I do believe a lemon is coming up in the next few chapters…I think. 0_0 I haven't written one of those for quite some time…maybe I should just ignore it? *_* Anyway, also the story behind Silver's creation and the kidnapping arcs are coming up soon. So, everything will be building towards that and more I think! ;D Thanks for reading and please leave me a lovely review! You guys don't know how much they encourage me! XD So, short or long, I love them all!


	51. Chapter 50 Aftermath

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

As the Golden Flower Conference Room of The Imperial was quickly emptying itself, King Kaname Kuran felt darkly elated but also strangely cheerless.

Perhaps…he had gone too far?

Kaname felt a little guilty.

Kaname wasn't in the habit of second-guessing himself when it came to making the critical moves in his various plots, schemes, and manipulations. There will always be a 'Perhaps I should have' or 'Maybe if I', or 'Could I have do so differently' to any type of situation. However, the fact of the matter was, was that he _didn't_ and thus he should only deal with reality – _on what is._

So, he was elated in the fact that his plans against Yuki's foolish actions had worked so well. Not only had he damaged her reputation and weakened her case against him, but he had bough time for his second plan to be unleashed.

Plan One's main goal was to crush Yuki's resolve in her mutiny against him. (And what a mutiny it was!) However, Plan Two's main goal was to trap Yuki and forever keep her at his side. Thus, while Kaname was elated that his countermeasures against Yuki had worked as well as they did in the courtroom, he still needed to enact plan two.

The '_living'_ Zero Kiryu was his perfect hostage and greatest pawn in this risky gamble of his.

And if Yuki thought she was furious at his dirty tactics now, Kaname couldn't wait to reveal Kiryu's living existence to her.

_**Ah**_. That moment of his black revenge against her mutiny will be _so_ perfect.

All too soon, Kaname was going to reveal to Yuki the fact that her beloved 'first' choice was alive and well – _and under his complete control._

Then there was the ironic fact that _her_ precious little Kiryu had _completely_ forgotten about her, and as _**his**_ Silver - the man only focused on _him_ and _him alone._

_**Yes.**_ Perhaps he _did_ go a bit too far in this first court session, but as Kaname reflected, a dark part of him felt a vicious spite against his wife for all of this.

In the end, this was Yuki's fault.

All these years.

All these _fucking_ years, and she _still_ refused to be what he desperately needed and wanted.

Kaname had given her time to cope with Kiryu's supposed death. Kaname had been with her when she had that terrible miscarriage in that bloody cave. Kaname had stayed by her side when she was in that long coma. Kaname had watched over her during her five-year long period of madness. Kaname had accepted her disheveled, lost self back into his life, and Kaname had made her into the powerful glorious pureblood queen she was today.

And that _**rebellious bitch**_ dared to challenge his** Right to Rulership** after _all_ he has _done_ for her!

How did everything go so wrong?

Sure, Kaname could admit that perhaps choosing to murder Kiryu all those years ago for his selfish desire was wrong.

Yes, yes. It _was_ wrong _and_ evil.

But how could anyone _dare_ judge him for his past actions?

He or she who was without sin could cast the first stone, then.

After all, who could say that _they_ wouldn't do the _same_ as him _if_ they _were_ him?

In truth, Kaname knew that the right and correct thing to do would be to give up on Silver/Kiryu and Yuki. He _should_ allow them to finally be together after all this years and perhaps he should keep his distance from them forever. After all, he had his kingdom, his children, and his power. He had so much, and honestly, that was probably the most noble of paths he could take.

It was a sad pity that Kaname Kuran wasn't a noble person.

Why should _he_ have to sacrifice his wants, desires, and happiness for someone else's?

Why?

Because…_really_…what did it matter if one had it all, _if they had no place to return to? _

Yet as King Kaname Kuran sat on his colossal black-gold king's throne, he watched as every soul in the conference room hurriedly left. His children, his inner circle, the four human hunters, his outer court, the foreign vampire nobles and pureblood aristocracy, and the moderating Pureblood African Queen Biashara Bimnono had all left the Golden Conference Room.

Too soon, there were only two people left in that massive elegant place.

But the silence in the room between the two males was overwhelming.

The King's Right Arm, Takuma Ichijo, looked at the empty conference room around him. Even he could feel his king's deadly wrath and anger, but Takuma had always been the worst of idiots. He actually stayed behind and silently watched his ruler-friend with unknown green eyes.

It wasn't possible, right?

It wasn't possible that Kaname _could_ have….

Zero _trusted_ Kaname. That weirdly scary but oddly gently ex-human vampire hunter had actually _trusted_ him…thus Kaname couldn't have…._he couldn't have_…**he couldn't**….

Breathless, Takuma looked at his emotionless pureblood king and he suddenly had to _know_ for sure. "Kaname-sama…" Takuma began to ask. "Is it true?"

Kaname listlessly looked at Takuma. There was no point in pretending that he didn't know what exactly Takuma was talking about. Seemingly bored, Kaname responded. "And if it is true…what exactly do you intend to do about it, Takuma."

Takuma blinked his green eyes.

His instincts were flaring to life.

There was a hidden threat within Kaname's words.

So Takuma could not say a word.

It was fortunate that Kaname did not require him to. "Leave me, Takuma. I wish to be alone." He dismissed.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty: Aftermath **

* * *

**Present **

Vampires from all areas of the Far Eastern Realm Kingdom were rushing away from the Golden Flower Conference Room as fast as they could. All vampires formed and broke off into their various groups and factions so that they could further gossip among themselves as to the exciting but terrible revelations of the First Court Session between King Kuran and Queen Kuran.

_My, my._ Sosono thought to herself. _This entire situation and opportunity seemed to be sent straight from the heavens. _She could not be more pleased and apparently her followers felt the same way.

"Well, hot damn!" The young Gook Song exclaimed as he walked with his fellow Rebel Pureblood Koreans. "This old lady was right about this being the perfect time!"

Sosono stared at the young pureblood vampire male and pressed her lips tightly together. She never did like cursing or vulgar words. She gave the boy's mother a snotty look and the ever-calm Lady Hye Jin Song blushed with bright-red embarrassment.

However, her husband, Joon Ho Song, rubbed his hands gleefully together. "Indeed." The man looked at the ancient vampire woman and smirked. "You were so right, my dear Sosono. Your wisdom can not be outmatched."

"Thank you for your gracious words, Lord Song." Sosono's lips twisted into an odd smile. "We have the perfect chance because of the Tyrant's House's personal dilemma." Sosono eyes flashed. "The Queen wants to split apart the Far Eastern Realm." Sosono darkly grinned. "Why not fulfill her wishes? But perhaps not in the way she thought…"

The rebel Koreans darkly smiled at each other.

"I have my familiars watching all the parties of the Royal House and Family." Sosono lowly announced to her group. "However, I want to speak with some Chinese Pureblood Clans members for…aftermath calculations." She mysterious said.

"Perhaps we should speak with the Mongolian Pureblood Clan members as well?" The green haired and black-eyed, Wan Hoo Kim, frostily suggested.

"Those weak crowds?" Im Dae Han snarled. "They would sooner _reveal_ the plot rather than help us."

"Humph." Sosono pondered. "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps." She looked at her force and viciously smiled. "We have so many opportunities this night." She said. "Let make the most of it." Her black eyes glowed with glee.

_Soon, Line of Kuran, I will have my revenge._ Sosono thought to herself.

* * *

**An Hour Later…**

For the first, in an extremely long time, Prince Haruka Kuran and Princess Juri Kuran agreed on something.

Their parents were _more_ messed up then they originally thought they were.

Fact #1: Mother and Father were _not_ true-love mates.

Fact #2: Mother had _another_ person as her true-love mate who was the late Zero Kiryu.

Fact #3: Mother accused Father of murdering her true-love mate.

Fact #4: Mother thus demanded half the kingdom as her rightful retribution.

However, Fact #5: Father denied the fact that he killed Mother's true-love mate.

Thus, Fact #6: Father then declared that Mother was objectively insane and mentally unstable.

As the two teens walked the long and quiet hallway, Haruka and Juri stared at each other. They soon stopped walking.

Twin dark-brown orbs contemplated the other, and Haruka suddenly _knew_ his sister was going to say something _extremely stupid_ to him.

"Perhaps…perhaps, papa is right that mama is-" Juri started to say, and Haruka gave his twin sister a cutting look.

"If you say anything that sounds like 'Father is right, Mother is crazy' - I'm going to pinch your ears off, Juri!" Haruka hissed. "Stop always taking Father's side in everything!"

"But Papa would never do something so evil, Haruka!" Juri argued. "I trust Papa! He wouldn't ever do something so…_so_…_**wrong**_!"

_Did they have the same father?_ Haruka wondered darkly to himself. _Were they even talking about the same father – King Kaname Kuran? _

"Juri, you don't know father at all!" Haruka hissed. "Father is a terrible and selfish person!"

"That's not true, Haruka!" Juri hissed in her beloved Papa's defense. "Father is simply lonely and desperately hurt. It's _you_ that doesn't even try to understand him!"

_Damn you, Juri!_ Haruka thought. _You always give that wretched excuse for Father's bad behavior!_ Haruka was sick and tired of it!

"Lonely? Hurt?" Haruka raged. Stupid Juri! She always took Father's side."Him and how many other millions of other people in the world? What gives father the right to be so cruel to mother just now – and he's _always_ cruel to me – just because _he is lonely and hurt?"_

"Father is a person, Haruka!" Juri cried. "He's a special unique person and _you_ just can't or won't understand the depths of Father's emotions and _that's_ why –" Juri started her defense again.

But Haruka cut her off. He was so tired of Juri's 'Trust Father BS'. She needed to open her damn eyes!

"Father is a special unique person?" Haruka hissed again. "Special unique person? For once I can agree with you on father, Juri." Haruka's dark-brown eyes flashed dangerously. "The evil bastard has _poison_ running in his veins instead of blood. Did you _not_ see how he **ripped apart** _mother's heart and soul in there_?"

"But Mama was the one who –" Juri began.

"**Don't. You. Dare. Say. It. Was. **_**Mother's**_**. Fault**." Haruka viciously stopped her again.

Juri looked like she was on the edge of tears, but Haruka didn't care at this moment. This idiot needed to wake up and smell the real freaking roses for once! Not the ones she just made up in her stupid small brain!

They both fell into silence.

_"You would have been so much happier if you had another father, no?" Mother said on the verge of tears. "Or an elder brother, right?"_

Haraka immediately believed that his mother was telling the truth. The truth about everything in the courtroom and about her and father's real relationship. He believed her side. Haruka trusted his mother above all and the odd words that mother had spoken to him earlier in the night came alive with fresh insight to him at this moment.

Mother had loved another man _other_ than father. A man that could have been _his_ father if Haruka wasn't the universe's cruelest joke.

Why?

Why was fate so cruel?

_**If only….**_

Juri was another story. She felt deeply twisted and confused.

She loved her father. She loved her mother. She loved her brother. But now, it felt like everyone was against her, and her desire to have back her happy normal family.

Juri desperately wished she knew how to solve these problems.

Papa may not have been the _noblest_ of persons (being a king), but Juri knew he always had good intentions deep down.

But…could Papa have done it?

Could Papa have actually done such a cruel thing to Mama?

**No!**

He couldn't have! Juri refused to believe it!

"Papa has never done _anything_ to willingly hurt mama, Haruka!" Juri started again. "Papa protects, cherishes, and loves mama so much!" Juri pointed out. "You saw how he nearly lost himself when we all thought mama was going to die last year!"

Haruka's brain paused itself.

That statement of Juri's, if nothing else, was true.

Haruka had been there when mother had been attacked by those assassins meant for his father. The reason that mother had gotten so hurt was because she had defended and protected Haruka like a wild savage beast that felt her cub's safety was being threatened. It was one of the few times Haruka had seen his usually calm and collected mother viciously unleashing her powers and use her Artemis Scythe and her rarely seen special anti-vampire gun – The Crimson Throne.

Haruka learned one valuable lesson after witnessing her mind-blowing battle with those assassins.

Mothers are scary but cool people.

Still, because mother's focus was on _protecting_ him, and _not_ slaughtering her foes, she nearly died from her injures despite being a pureblood. When father had gotten to her…it almost seemed like he was losing his mind when he saw her bloodied state.

Father's pained eyes were something Haruka would never forget.

Father _did_ love mother _very_ much.

But he was still a scumbag.

"Father has never done anything to hurt mother?" Haruka repeated. He could only gawk at his sister. "Father has done _much_ to hurt mother, Juri!"

_Of all the - _Juri's dark-brown eyes flashed. "Name one freaking thing, Haruka! Name just one time where papa _actually_ _hurt_ mother!"

Suddenly extremely angry at his sister's naïve boldness, Haruka recklessly threw his next few words at her. "Our precious '_papa'_ is _cheating on mother with another man_!"

The minute the words were out of Haruka's mouth, he immediately regretted it. Despite the fact that he didn't even touch her, Juri looked like she was just violently slapped across the face.

The air in Juri's lungs left her. Juri looked at her twin brother for a long moment. "No…impossible…Papa…" She wheezed as she looked at her sibling. Haruka's honest eyes scared her. "…cheating…on _Mama_…" Juri suddenly felt faint.

Haruka wondered if being an idiot was something that was contiguous. By darkness, he didn't intend for Juri to find out about _that_ this way. But before he could say anything, Juri ran away from him.

Haruka could only stare at her shaking back.

In utter disgust at himself, Haruka punched a wall.

While his fist bled, Haruka said, "Father, mother, mother's late true-love mate - Mr. Zero Kiryu, and poor Silver," Haruka nearly wept to himself. "Why couldn't you guys all solve your problems before my lifetime? Why must I have to suffer the aftermath of all your terrible fates?"

Expectedly, the injured wall couldn't answer him.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Ah. My winter holiday is almost here…so, my precious readers, you all know what that means, right? **No more updates for the rest of the year!** ..._Just kidding!_ XD Did I give you a heart attack? ;3 My bad! (Dodges a flaming tomato.) Anyway, so the plot marches further along! XD Wow! I'm at 50 chapters already! Goodness. What a wild ride it has been! XD And it is all thanks to you, my lovely readers (especially my all reviewers), so thanks for reading my odd ball tale, and please leave me your lovely thoughts in a review! Short or Long – English or Not – I love them all! :D


	52. Chapter 51 Suppositions

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**Thousands of Years Ago…**

"What is he?"

The young Kaname of the line of Kuran pretended to be asleep. The hut was small, so he could hear every word of his young mother and young father in the icky darkness.

"He is our first born son." A calm female voice, his mother, said.

There was a heavy sigh from his father. "Do not pretend that you do not know what I mean, my heart." His father sighed again. "You and I both saw it. Had he been a normal child he would have been killed by that wolf! What is he? Is he a monster?"

"My love," His mother shushed. "Do not be so foolishness! What child of _ours_ could be such a thing?" His mother then paused. "However, it is true that he is not a normal child." There was another pause from his mother. "I think he is one of the destined."

There was a sharp inhale of breathe from his father. "Do not say such things, my heart." His father immediately said. "My kin will not spare us if he is found to be one of the destined."

"My love, your kin destroys all that threatens their power!" His mother murmured. "Had we not joined in matrimony, your vile brother would have had you killed!"

His parents felt into silence.

"Perhaps it is a _sign_." His mother started to say. "Perhaps it is a sign that _you_ should have been the ruler."

His father hissed his teeth. "Do not endanger us to fulfill an old and dead ambition! We are always watched. If my brother even thinks for one moment that I might betray him, our lives are forfeit."

"_But_ if we gather allies, we could have the power to protect ourselves and our children!" His mother argued.

"If we gather allies, we could die." His father's voice was so dead.

They argued in the darkness for more, but the first son of Kuran closed his young ears.

Yes, he was different. He had always known he was.

But that should not be a bad thing.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-One: Suppositions **

* * *

**Present**

His hot fury was gone.

But because it was gone – his emptiness was even more pronounced.

Silver Night stared at the small kitchen knife in his hand. The perfectly sliced tomatoes for one of his master's favorite dishes, Marzipan, almost seemed to mock him on the wooden cutting board.

He was alone in the King's Chamber Penthouse Suite. And it was a marvelous place. It was almost like an apartment home. It had everything one could possibly want or need to be comfortable. It was like a home away from home that was _not_ a home.

_What exactly am I doing?_ Silver thought to himself. _What exactly am I even doing?_

Well, objectively, Silver was currently preparing his master's favorite dishes to eat when he came back from his first court divorce session. He knew that his master would be mentally and emotionally needy after it, and nothing makes a person feel better then when they have a well-cooked meal and sympathetic company.

Oh...Silver truly hated his ironic and cruel fate.

His Master Kaname was the next person he was planning on destroying, and here he was cooking the man's favorite dishes.

He should put _poison_ in it.

But Silver nearly let out a vicious laugh. Even if he wanted too, even if he tried, _he never could._

Silver Night was a Doll.

And Dolls can never hurt, harm, or kill their masters.

But Silver _still_ had a job to do. A wish to fulfill. An illusion to maintain.

Survive. _Survive_. Survive.

_"But kindness is not for you. Happiness is something you will not have. And love will never be yours." _

Silver felt so empty now.

Why should he? Why should he survive then?

_**Survive...please.**__ His true self first asked._

_Why should I continue to live, true self, if I cannot know kindness, happiness, or love?_ Silver mentally hissed to his emptiness. _I would rather die. __**I would rather die.**_

Silver's snow-white hands violently shook as he stared at the various boiling pots and pans of the other dishes he was preparing for his master jailor.

He felt like screaming! He felt like crying!

But he was so..._**empty.**_

_What am I, true one? What am I? _Silver desperately thought to himself.

But he knew the answer.

He was a corrupted perfection, a filthy work of art.

A spell-bound slave. A pet doll. A whorish prisoner.

A deceiver. A destroyer. An seducer. A schemer.

He was _nothing_ good. He was _all_ bad. So _why_...

_I want to die._ Silver thought to himself as he squeezed the small cutting knife_. I want to die, true one. I want to really and truly die. _

And Silver meant it. He really and honestly meant it. _But_...

**He didn't want to die as a shadow person. **

The irony of this was so painful that Silver felt his heart stop.

**He didn't want to **_**die**_** as a **_**shadow person.**_

If only for one moment, he wanted to feel complete.

_"Can you please help me become a 'he' to him instead?" He once asked the elderly butler. _

_I want to die as a __**he**__._ Silver thought as he resumed his cutting. _Not an __**it**__. But a __**he**__._

_**I want to die as a **__**he.**_

But, in order to die as a _**he**_ - he must first learn who he was.

To learn who he was, he must survive.

To survive, he must destroy.

But he so tired. So very tired.

So very, _very_ tired of destroying.

"_He's father's bodyguard!"_

"_Silver Night! Silver the Knight! Silver Night, the Silver-Haired Knight with Lavender Light!"_

Bodyguard.

Knight.

Protector.

It was insane. It was a _fool's_ dream. It was a _madman's_ _wish_. But if Silver could _be_ anything or _have_ anything - _anything at all in the whole __**entire**__ world_ – he wanted to be a protector.

By all that lives, he wished he was a noble and pure protector of something, someone, anything, anyone, but...

"_You are prey that wishes to be devoured_." His first master, his creator, _his breaker_ said. _"I have made you prey that wishes to be devoured, Silver Night." _

And Silver suddenly felt like sleeping a dream that would last for the rest of eternity.

* * *

She was curled up in her bed in her private Queen's White Chamber Hotel Suite and she buried herself underneath the thick covers. It was the closest thing Yuki could get to that was like a coffin. A nice, friendly, and dark coffin. A coffin fit for a lost and mad dog.

Lost and Mad Dog.

_Lost and Mad Dog. _

**Lost and Mad Dog. **

The Far Eastern Vampire Pureblood Queen, Yuki Kuran, was a lost and mad dog.

_"If things had been different, I would have loved you forever." He had said as he laid dying. He tried to squeeze her cheek teasingly._

**Crack**.

Yuki's dark-brown eyes flashed. _No_. She thought_. I cannot break apart now. I cannot break apart now. __**I cannot break apart now. **_

**Repair. **

_"Yuki! You're finally awake!" He crushed her in a tight embrace. "I was beginning to think you would never open your eyes again."_

**Crack, **again.

**Fixed.**

_"I like everything about you, Yuki, but most especially your smile. Your smile tells me everything I need to know."_

**Crack,** another time.

**Glue** back together.

_"It was for your own good, Yuki. He would have caused you immense pain when he finally became dust. I only did it to protect you." _

Crack_. _Crack. Crack.

Repair. Fix. Glue.

Crack, crack, crack, again.

Repair, fix, glue, back _again_.

Yuki kept trying to fix herself, but it _wasn't working._ By darkness, after all this time, she was still that idiot, weak, _powerless_ little girl who did stupid, stupid things.

All this time – **nothing changed**.

Crack. _Crack_. **Crack**.

Repair. _Fix_. **Glue**.

Crack, _crack_, **crack**, again.

Repair, _fix_, **glue**, back again.

Yet despite her continuous mental mending, she wasn't able to heal herself. She was fixing, but she wasn't healing. And with a bone-deep understanding, Yuki knew she could never be _healed_ again.

She was a lost, mad, and _cracking_ wild dog.

_I...have...no one to..._Yuki thought to herself. _I...have...no one to...fix me anymore. _

* * *

The exclusive bar lounge in The King's Red Wing Building of The Imperial Hotel was completely empty except for two inhabitants – the extremely nervous and newly employed Level C bartender vampire, Miss Chikako Kichida, and the moody Far Eastern Vampire King, Kaname Kuran.

The private bar lounge was located on the third to the last floor under Kaname's elite King Chamber's Penthouse Suite. The nervous Chikako had been steadying giving the gloomy vampire king drink after drink after drink, but she wouldn't dare say a word to him.

Chikako stayed as far away from her ruler as she respectfully could because she placed a high value on her life. And moody purebloods weren't exactly known to make sensible decisions when they were emotional.

Kaname Kuran was like a typical man when drinking. When he was sober, he preferred to lie to himself, but when drunk he was far too honest.

Kaname looked at his...what? Tenth? Eleventh? Or maybe it was his twelfth alcoholic drink? Kaname couldn't really keep count anymore and he didn't even know what he was drinking. Didn't he swear he wasn't going to drink again? Yes. Yes, he _did_ swear something like that...in the past. Or was it only supposed to be for the end of the year? Well, it was a new year, now.

A new year with new problems.

Kaname looked at the lonely red glass in front of him.

_I think...I might be...an evil person._ Kaname thought despondently to himself. _I think...no, I know, I'm an evil, selfish, and cruel person. _

It was so strange, but so normal. Kaname could only be honest to himself when he was on the verge of being drunk.

Kaname Kuran was a monster. He was a big, evil, and wicked monster that always took and took and took.

_"You and I are so alike, nephew." He spat out bright-red blood on the snow-covered ground. "We both take and take and take until one day we lose everything we hold dear. You will end up like me – no - you will end up even __**worst**__. "_

Kaname took another swing of his whatever-the-number drink.

His uncle-descendant...Rido Kuran...how…how scarily right the man really was.

But they were not really the same – Kaname was the first. He was the evil monster first. First. First. First. Always first. He made himself into a monster first.

Because only monsters win.

Only monsters can succeed in an uncontrollable, diseased, and dying world's reality.

Kaname was a strange freak of nature really. A freaky, twisted, cruel creature that knew everything and _lost_ everything.

Lost.

Lost. Lost. Lost.

Lost.

His first parents he lost. His first innocent love he lost. More and more and more and more and more losses.

Lose. Lose. Lose.

Lose. Lose. _Keep always losing, Kaname._

When he was young and innocent, which was so long ago that the fact that he ever was young and innocent seemed like a cruel illusion, he had _not_ been an evil, twisted, and cruel monster.

Once upon a time, he was a high-spirited, outspoken, and innocently mischievous child. His parents loved him. His younger siblings looked up to him. He always knew his place in the world and while that world as so precarious, he walked a bright path.

But even back then, he was different.

He was always different.

He wasn't the same.

He wasn't the same as his parents. He wasn't the same as his siblings. He wasn't the same as _anyone_.

And he had always known that.

When he had found others – like him, but not like him –he had been so happy. So very, very happy.

But then _they_ came like fire from the heavens and burned his first pure world to the ground.

He had to become something new.

In his second world, he had changed. Different from his first world self.

His was penniless, homeless, and a curiously lonely creature.

His second world self was quieter. More calm. More kind. That self knew the value of people. That self knew, and so his high-spirited self became mild-tempered.

Due to that change, he was blessed with a wondrous gift.

Love.

He fell in love.

He met and fell in love with one would was _not_ like him. That first love was normal. He was the one that was always different. Always, always so different.

But the first love loved him all the same.

Because of that love, he became unbelievably strong. Suddenly, he had power. Suddenly, he had allies. Suddenly, he could rule and command, and he sat on his young throne and did _good_.

But the first love was _normal_. And _he_ was _not_.

So whispers started. Murmurings begun. Thoughts were plotted.

He ignored them – the whispers, the murmuring, the thoughts. He ignored them because he took pity on them. He ignored them because it was the kind thing to do.

But all too soon, his first love could no longer speak. But his voice still stayed strong. When the first love slowed, he still stayed fast. When the first love wrinkled, he _still_ stayed so young

And then he lost that first love to time and age.

And his power and his allies and his throne were ripped away.

Betrayed by the whispers, the murmurings, and the thoughts.

He was thrown into the black dead sea and the waves and winds brought him through many strange and different and new lands. Lands were none looked like him. Lands were all looked like him. Strange, strange. Different, different. New, new.

But each different thing he saw, he lost.

But each strange thing he saw, he lost.

But each new thing he saw, he lost.

Lost. Lost.

Lose. Lose.

Alone. Alone. Alone.

Nothing.

Then he met her. That ancient ebony woman who was the same as him, who had power like he use to have... and she looked at him with indifferent disgust.

"_You lose everything, because you are too weak, too cowardly, and too powerless to protect what you most value and desire." _

And then she carelessly tossed him out of her hot gold kingdom.

That was when the second world and second self ended and died.

And his third world and third self was born.

But in the end, that third self lost and _lost_ and **lost** and _**lost..**_.

And thus, he had decided to dream forever.

Yet, it seemed that he was not done living yet.

Now was the time of his fourth world and fourth self.

The fourth self was an odd combination of first self, second self, third self, and modern self.

So...was it any surprise that fourth self was a monster? An evil, cruel, and selfish monster?

But what was wrong with that?

Don't monsters always survive? Don't monsters always win and not _lose_ in the end? Isn't that what made them monsters?

His fourth self's first victim said. _"Don't be sad."_ He said it with kind eyes. _"So don't feel lonely, sad, or anything."_

Then his heart said. "_Let's try to be happy."_ She said it with blood-red eyes.

Then his love said. _"I will accept and understand every aspect that is you."_ He said it with fiery eyes. _"I will always be with you until the end of your days."_

The victim saw.

The heart knew.

The love promised.

**So, now the monster would _vow_. **

_I...I am...a monster. _Kaname thought to himself._ I'm still a monster, after all this time._ But then Kaname's heart blacken. _But...I don't mind being a monster if...the ones I desire are always here, always safe, and always protected._

So Kaname's soul violently promised his aching heart. _I can keep them safe. I can keep them protected. I am doing all this for...them. Even if they hate me now, even if they misunderstand me now...there is always later. _

Later. _Later_. **Later**.

He would make it up to them..._**later**_.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** And so the plot marches onward! But gosh, this chapter was so hard to write. 0_0 Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I'm really conveying what I'm going for as I continue to write this dark, light, and bittersweet tale of mine. (Sigh.) As a writer, I love all my characters in their own twisted little ways, so when I read my reviews (and trust and believe I read and consider _all_ of them) it helps me see more deeply into my fic and various characters. (Which is probably why it got so long – goodness! 0_0' Curse you plot bunnies!)

So, while I _do_ love words of praise in my reviews (Really, I'm not 'A Really Big Idiot' for nothing - whenever I see kind words in my reviews, no matter how small, I always break out in a corny relieved smile.), I _would_ like to see more...'I felt this emotion when I read this' or 'I hope this happen' or...'I'll force you off the plank if you don't update sooner, woman!' type of reviews as well. XD. J/K. I'm sure you get what I mean, my lovely readers. ;3

ANYWAYS...because I'm in the habit of warning you guys beforehand...I believe there will be a lemon in the next chapter. Yep, that's right. You will be seeing the strangely rare lemon next chapter. (Glares at next chapter because lemons and I aren't on the friendliest of terms, right now. XD) But thanks for reading and supporting this story, my precious readers! ;D


	53. Chapter 52 Ownership

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Warning! There is strong sexual content in this chapter! Reader Beware!**

* * *

**Present**

It was an hour till the beginning of the grey morning before Kaname entered his private rooms of the King's Chamber of the Imperial. While he was slightly buzzed, he was not entirely drunk, and the oddly combined sensation wobbled his generally sharp mind.

However, the moment that he came into his private rooms, the first external sensation that surprised him came from an unlikely and rarely tickled sense.

And that unlikely tickled sense was his sense of _smell_.

Despite the beautifully decorated hotel suite, Kaname's mind could not register any other stimulates then the savoring scents of all his favorite foods. Curiously, Kaname walked towards the origin of the smells and his dark eyes came upon his dining room table near his fabulous private kitchen.

On the large table were numerous elegantly arranged dishes. There was Lemon Poached Salmon, Marzipan, Chicken Parm, Tri-Color Frittata, French Bread with olive oil, Antipasto Salad, Rich Fondue Chocolate, Sparkling Water, and White and Red Wine.

Kaname could only _look_ at the delicious meal spread out before him. His speechless eyes caught the shape of a small note. Kaname's shaking hands reached towards it and picked it up.

In the small elegant note, Kaname saw his ideal lover's beautiful handwriting. _I've prepared your favorite dishes, my dear Master Kaname._ The lovely note said. _I feared that you would need some vital refreshments to strengthen you after these momentous events._ Something inside Kaname felt..._**raw**_. _I hope my actions have pleased you, my master. Please eat and get some rest._

_**Silver.**_..

Kaname felt like he was suddenly lost at sea. A sea of _uncontrollable_ emotions and feelings.

The fact that Silver would –

The fact that Silver was even thinking about him in such a situation –

The fact that Silver's total focal point was on him and _only_ on him, yet _he_ _would have to risk_ -

Kaname felt terribly _**raw**_.

But that raw sensation in his chest awoken something _primal_ and _savagely_ _needy_ within him. Kaname suddenly hungered for _something_. He was hungry, _hungry_, **hungry**, but the thing he hungered for was _not_ food.

He wanted...

He wanted someone's total understanding and acceptance of his true monster nature.

Kaname wanted _closeness_. He wanted _familiarity_. He wanted _nearness_.

_He wanted intimacy._

And there was only _one_ person, one _precious_ creature, _**one soul**_ who could give him what he _desperately_ craved.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Two: Ownership **

* * *

**Present**

Mentally and physically exhausted, Silver Night had decided to risk a quick nap before the arrival of his master, but his strange exhaustion took total control over him and against his best intentions, he found himself in a very deep sleep in his private room bed that was located near his master's private hotel bedroom. He was so tired that he hadn't even bothered to change from his bodyguard clothes.

Yet as Silver rested in the in-between world of reality and dreams, he felt _something_ run tenderly up his chest.

Awareness started to stir his lethargic state.

That _something_ turned out to be a hand. And that smooth and powerful hand passed over his resting face. Long and soft fingers brushed over his closed eyelashes and Silver was slowly tugged from his dreamless rest as his delicate wrists were caught by strong hands.

Suddenly, a soft mouth captured his, and Silver's lips were captured in a consuming and determined kiss.

Silver grew alarmed.

He started to struggle against the consuming kiss, but then he took a deep breath through his nose, and he recognized the familiar scent that assaulted his senses.

**Ah,** it was Master Kaname.

Silver stopped his struggles.

His master's tongue teasing pulled at his lips and Silver invitingly opened his honeyed mouth to the provoking invader. Kaname's particular flavor lingered on his challenging tongue and it reminded Silver of an old world dream. His master tasted like old wine and far-off spices and the unique flavor brought to him half-remembered sensations of a distant land and ancient dream.

Silver gasped as his master pulled back from their deep kiss and slowly licked his lips. He finally opened his gray-purple eyes and stared up at the dark-haired man. His master's usual dark-brown orbs seemed to have unexpectedly changed, and Silver wasn't quite sure what to make of such a thing.

Master Kaname's eyes had a dark hint of _red_ in that consuming imperial gaze of his.

Silver suddenly felt faint.

However, his master's oddly changed irises were not the blood-red hue that was typical of when a vampire felt into the throes of bloodlust. The color of his master's eyes could be best described as a dark garnet-brown color. _How strange_. Silver was unsure of the meaning behind this small change of his master's irises.

Kaname studied Silver for a long quiet moment. His silver-haired lover had initially resisted his acts, but he had felt it when the man had recognized his unique scent. At that, Silver had quickly calmed himself, and immediately responded. For some unknown reason, Kaname was extremely…_glad..._at that. Did not such a deed show Silver's complete fealty to him? He resisted all, but then he acquiesced only to _him_.

Clearly his lover knew who he belonged to.

Suddenly, Kaname's garnet-brown eyes flashed with dark desire.

He wanted to claim this person.

_Now._

And _forever._

For some strange reason, Silver's heart speed up to an unreasonable rate.

This man…this strange garnet-brown eyed man…was the one that he was…._planning on destroying_. This man was one that he should utterly hate and deeply despise because this man represented everything that he hated about his life _and_…he had _everything_ that Silver desperately wished he could truly have.

He had a mate he could freely and truly love and protect.

He had two precious children.

He had unfathomable power and prestige.

He had the freedom to _do_ or _be…__**whatever he wanted.**_

Master Kaname had _everything,_ and thus Silver had _so_ many reasons to hate him.

But he was so _**tired**_.

So very, _very_ tired.

Everything about his life – lost, lonely, incomplete, and false as it was – was so _very_ tiring.

Survive. _Survive_. **Survive**.

Yet ever since he had that strange new dream, he had no _real_ reason too – he had no hope or goals or prizes or promises in the end – all he was to do was simply keep on surviving.

So, why should Silver keep surviving if all he had was hate and despair? Why must he always whisper the lies that the one he would one day betray wished to hear?

In a rare foolish act of his, Silver opened his mouth to ask his jailor _why…_.

But, unfortunately, his master silenced his unseen bleeding soul with his dark kiss.

Kaname's ruby tongue took advantage of Silver's slightly parted lips and swiftly slipped inside his lover's mouth. He sealed their lips together in the _softest_ kiss Silver had _ever_ experienced. At that unexpected gentleness, Silver's mind suddenly burned, and all his senses switched on. He lightly groaned as Kaname's tongue teased his never-used fangs – brushing his tongue over them until they tingled.

Silver felt his body warm and a vibrating wave of pleasure inched through his snow-white skin. He felt Kaname's greedy hands on his white bodyguard dress shirt and the man worked the small buttons through the loops until they fell away. Warm dominating fingers ghosted over Silver's smooth chest, traveled across his stomach, and then they journeyed back up towards his lips.

The sensations made Silver tremble.

Unbidden, the words of his late creator assaulted his mind.

"_You have finally become prey that wishes to be devoured." A man with evil crimson eyes lustfully whispered into his ear with dark pride. "__You are my perfect corruption. My filthy work of art." His long fingers lifted the lost shadow person's head up. "Forever will you be my greatest contaminated creation, my wonderfully defiled __**Silver Night**__."_

Perhaps…that evil man was right all along and it was _Silver_ who was deceiving himself?

Silver the Destroyer. Silver the Deceiver. Silver the Doll. It was all he would ever be, wasn't it?

Perhaps this was _all_ he was…

Silver's head fell back when Kaname's ghost fingers pulled away from his shuddering mouth. The dark-eyed man started to kiss under his chin and then he started to make his way down Silver's moonlight throat. A new set of shivers coursed through Silver when Kaname licked his sternum. His master's hot tongue moved slowly but firmly along the center of his chest until he was gasping in corrupted pleasure.

All of a sudden, Silver wanted to offer every piece of his sensitive flesh to his Master Kaname's unusual soft touches.

But, capriciously, the dreadful man _relented_ from his intensely _teasing_ actions.

Silver's eyes snapped open.

That will _not_ do.

Silver reached up and hastily unbuttoned Kaname's red zoot jacket and white silk dress shirt. He felt his master watch him as Silver's elegant fingers quickly freed his upper body of its trapping red cloth.

Without warning, Kaname felt a warm mouth close around his right nipple and the dark eyed vampire cried out in ecstasy. He nearly felt onto the man underneath him.

Nevertheless, despite his desire to maintain himself, he could hardly balance his quavering position as Silver's skillful tongue's wet presence against his nub made his mind _reel_. Kaname soon feared he could not take anymore, but then Silver moved lower to lick at the soft skin of his navel, which, while giving his sensitive nipples a well-needed rest, bizarrely made Kaname moodily groan at the sudden lost of that intense pleasure.

Above him, Silver heard his master growl deeply into his throat as he devoured his master's hot skin. Silver's white teeth and twisting tongue mapped every straining muscle on his master's whimpering chest, until the man unleashed a loud frustrated sob of deep desire.

Pleasure.

_Pleasure_.

**Pleasure**.

Silver Night was a shadow person and thus did not understand things like love, happiness, peace, or security. Things that many people took for granted. However, he could not have lived and survived this wretchedly long and false existence of his if he did not understand _pleasure_.

Objective_ carnal __**wanton **__**pleasure**_...

It was the closest thing he could feel that was similar to what many people called 'love'. Therefore, despite the fact that such a thing always left him drained and dead in the end - that after such acts he always, _always_, _**always**_ felt lonely and empty - he would _never_ fight his sole comfort of total lust.

Sex. Pleasure. Lust.

It was all he had to warm himself in his cold false world.

Lust was _all_ he had.

Therefore, Silver's gray-amethyst eyes flared to life with dark, forbidding, and greedy desire.

Two distinctly different pairs of eyes met, and Kaname felt like he was drowning in Silver's mysterious soul-window orbs. When their eyes met again – gray-amethyst orbs cutting into ruby-chocolate irises - Kaname shuddered.

His body felt like it was being consumed by an inferno of lust, desire, and hunger. His mind felt like it was falling away, and his skin thirsted for more and _more_ and _**more**_. He wanted more and _more_ and _**more**_ of the arousing being beneath him, and within Kaname's overwhelmed senses he suddenly felt the other vampire's craving yearning for him.

Another type of shudder ripped through Kaname's boiling flesh.

_**Silver…**_

This silver-haired plum-gray eyed man was the embodiment of everything that Kaname pine for. This strange and unexpected being was creating sensations within him that Kaname feared he could never escape from and Kaname highly doubted if he even _wanted_ to escape from them.

Silver Night was understanding, acceptance, and pleasure.

Silver Night was a safe refuge and his ideal companion.

Silver Night was vampire.

Kaname felt like he had been poison. His terrible addiction for this precious person was beyond his control now.

Severe and uncontrolled obsession flowed down Kaname's burning chest to hover in the pits of his stomach. An irreconcilable desire was growing within Kaname at Silver's talented touches, and he felt his worries fade far, _far_ away.

Now, there was only him, his Silver, and the insistent dark yearning inside him that demanded immediate satisfaction.

Kaname gently stopped his lover's movements and pulled him up. Silver tipped his head forward with a shudder. Then Kaname slipped his sweaty hands under the open white dress shirt his lover still wore that surrounded his elbows.

Sharp nails lightly scratched at Silver's uncovered snow-white chest, and Silver whimpered. His master's nails dug into his sensitized nipples, and he arched his back. The mortal pleasure of the action pulled a low cry of complete delight from his mouth.

Without informing his silver-haired lover of his intentions, Kaname's mouth slipped down Silver's snow-white and quivering neck. He positioned his red lips over his lover's quaking shoulder and, without warning, the pureblooded man lightly nipped into Silver's pale flesh.

Silver loudly gasped.

His master did the unexpected action again and _again_ and **again**.

"_**Kaname**_!" Silver's desperately moaned as his mind was rocked into a wanton _frenzy_.

Soon, a series of small bites were added along both sides of his neck. _Affection bites._ His master was marking him as his territory with this ancient vampire habit of affection bites. Such markings declared his ownership to the man above him, and while such small markings would be gone by morning, they would last for a few hours, which was what all they were intended to really do.

Panting like a thirsty dog, Silver was stunned. This…had _never_ happened before with this man! What in the world?

_Why? _

_Why_ in the world was this happening right _now_? Affection bites are only reserved for love-bond mates that have -

Silver could not finish the shocked thought. His stunned intentions were suddenly directed to the powerful hands that forcefully tore away the plain white dress shirt and black pants he wore. Silver brashly wheezed at the huskily ferocious movement. Fleshly blasts of pleasurable heat detonated underneath his naked skin's nerves, and Silver suddenly felt like his mind was on fire. Kaname's nippy fingers flung away all of Silver's textile coverings, and Silver promptly forgot all about them. Even though he was complete nude now, Silver felt so terribly, _terribly_ **hot**.

No, he was not _just_ **hot**.

Silver felt a vivacious buzzing in his veins. His flesh boomingly burned. His mind was vibrant with a crazed fever. As fingers ran over his chest, his head fell back onto the large bed. The intoxicating scents of sandalwood and roses mixed with the scents of old world wine, and Silver's low groaning turned into begging sobs as his master's thick fangs lightly and continuously pricked the hot flesh of his snow-white neck, throat, and shoulder - decorating his sultry flesh with tens of small affection bites that injected sweltering bolts of pleasure to every nick, space, and crease on his body.

Breathless and lost, Silver's darken plum-gray eyes opened and he foggily turned to face his master.

And Silver became even more winded.

All he could see was _**red.**_

Kaname's eyes were now perfectly crimson. Those burning red orbs captured Silver's stunned gaze and he could not look away. Kaname's dark crimson irises seemed to draw Silver's soul out of his body and thus Silver could barely struggle for a single breath.

Silver felt Kaname's hand tighten around his throat. Silver's eyes flashed. He immediately understood his master's new intentions, and he turned his head obediently to the left, baring the long curve of his snow-white neck to his master's scorching desire.

Silver sobbed in intense pleasure as long fangs buried themselves deep into his willing neck. Waves of ecstasy ripped through him and he arched himself roughly into the caging hot body above him.

"_**Kaname**_…" Silver delightedly groaned as his master's powerful jaws clamped down on his neck. He felt the long fangs drive themselves deeper into him and utter rapture welled up inside him. The vehement wave of pleasure swept through his body, and each beat of his mad heart increased the sensations of pure bliss a hundred fold. Passion sang through his veins and Silver was only vaguely aware of his master's strong hands at the back of his neck and wildly arched back. His master was supporting his limp, blissful, and willing frame as he slowly drank from Silver's submitted throat.

Silver felt the pillows on his bed shift as Kaname kneeled over him. However, lost in the pleasure of his master's fanged bite, Silver didn't register his master's _other_ fleshly intention, until he felt a warm hand cup him between his legs and one long single finger _pushed_ itself _inside him._

Silver's mind exploded.

He desperately clung to the dark-haired vampire above him, but Silver's voice was caught in his throat. His eyes closed as two points of pleasure build within him and he felt a sturdy arm wrap about his lower back. Silver soon felt his shaking hips be pulled up against his master's clothed erected groin.

A low keen escaped his throat as Silver arched himself into both wicked touches. He felt his master's teeth slightly tear further into his throat, yet Silver barely cared. The sensations that flowed over and inside him was _all _that he honestly cared for at this moment.

This gratification was his greatest need.

Thus he didn't care if his throat would be torn out. All that mattered was satisfying this lustful pleasurable desire that had blazingly ignited within him.

The sole single digit in his internal core soon became two. Then it became three. The initial pain at the preparation was forgotten as a long-past remembrance when Silver was sent soaring into utter rapture when his master's touched and massaged that single glorious spot inside of him.

"_**Kaname**__!"_ Silver moaned into the pureblood's burning chest. The whispered/screamed word sent sharp arrows of desire through Kaname's body, particularly his groin area, and Kaname's mind fell away from reality and into the world of spicy dreams.

A ragged cry was torn from Silver's throat as raw pleasure sang through him. Panting heavily, he clung tightly onto the pureblood's arm in one hand and his master's soft brown hair locs with the other.

Then, without warning, Kaname stopped his drinking bite and bared his sharp fangs in a well-pleased leer over his lover. He quickly removed his pants and then he drove Silver back against the bed and pinned the man underneath him with his weight. He lunged over to get on top of his lover and Kaname's hips grounded into his lover's shaking and opened moonlight legs.

Silver then felt his waist shoved downward and his lean legs were pushed up against his chest. He felt himself being lifted and his mind scarcely paused to fathom what was just about to happen.

When it happened, he lost himself.

Silver wept in sheer bliss as he was slowly, thickly, and deliciously entered.

Kaname's throbbing male organ dung _deep_ into him. "_**Kaname**_!" Silver hissed as his legs were trapped against each other. He chewed his lips with his pearl white fangs so savagely that they almost bled.

"**...Ngh!"** Silver threw his head back. His long silver hair seemed to whip around him like butterfly wings. There were no words that could describe what he felt at this moment. This position made his master's organ feel _far_ larger than it actually was. Thus Silver became a recklessly wild fleshly creature as Kaname smoothly pushed himself all the way through Silver's tight wet entrance.

Kaname's mind was sharply compressed into this one single moment. All thoughts of the past, the future, consequences, or possible effects were complete gone from his blazing mind. Nothing mattered to him at this moment. Absolutely _nothing_ matter, except for him to completely lose himself to his awfully addictive and truly obsessive gratification.

The red cloth of Kaname's open pants rubbed roughly against Silver's exposed skin when Kaname was full sheathed inside him. However, it was just another feeling – another delicious and consuming and claiming feeling - that added to all the torrent of pleasurable sensations that clashed within their souls.

Silver was being pushed closer to the edge and he could hardly breathe.

The overpowering scent of sandalwood and roses tightly embraced the hot air between them. Silver's long high-silver colored hair hung heavily and sleekly down the back of his large hotel bed, around his master's throat, and everywhere else its silk tendrils could latch onto as Silver's seemingly fragile and perfect body was blissfully subjected to the taller man's numerous determined long thrusts.

Silver screamed. He moaned, and he groaned. Arching and relaxing – arching and relaxing – Silver felt every delightful and lustful sensation that was _Kaname_.

The riotous thrusting of Kaname's vigorous hips. The drumming of Silver's various pulses. Their countless twin gasps for fresh air.

Everything. Anything. Everything. All.

Silver only existed to feel the hot blaze of uncontrolled and untamed lust at this moment. All previous thoughts of his fell away.

His master continued to wildly move within him, but when he looked towards his master's face again, he froze.

A crimson eyed _creature_ stared back at him.

Silver's hammering heart stopped. He felt something inside _him_ be harshly shoved awake.

Then his master snarled against him and brutally pushed his thick and leaking manhood back into him. Silver flung his head back with a sharp howl. By darkness, the man's thrust was so hard that Silver was savagely shoved against the back of the bed. "_Ngh_…_**Kaname!"**_ Silver groaned. For some strange reason, Silver feared that the bed would split with their sinful movements.

Silver tightly gripped Kaname's chest and shoulders as Kaname's merciless fingers rubbed against the skin of his stomach and hips. As he cried out in short sharp breaths, Silver's ruby lips desperately urged Kaname to hold him tighter and move faster.

Kaname couldn't agree more.

Pulling Silver's trembling legs down, he wrapped them around his impatient hips. He pinned his lover against him and Silver was coaxed into unleashing his pleasure.

But not yet.

Kaname's hand slid through Silver's long silvery river mane and he began to move inside him without thought or reason. At this moment, he could no longer take his time or slow down – it was too far gone for any of that. Silver had also lost all control of his responses and was hungrily moaning underneath him at each deep thrust Kaname heedlessly made inside Silver's _always_ wickedly tight wet channel.

All the pulses in Silver's body violently pounded and his heart was hammering against his screaming ribcage. With each thick thrust, Silver felt as if he could taste the man in the back of his throat. His breathing was abnormally wild and every section of his naked flesh sang a song of ultimate pleasure.

Silver cried out as Kaname fiercely thrust himself into him again, and he harshly clawed at Kaname's bare back. The slightly rebellious movement earned him a satisfying cry from the male vampire on top and inside him.

With a sob of pleasure, Silver reached up and caught another handful of loose dark-brown hair. He crushed his lips against his master's, dragging the man's red tongue down on his own. Too soon, Kaname's tongue plundered his mouth, but he was able to skillfully avoid his fangs as Silver soon started to thrash in the final throes of his oncoming climax.

Their lips separated, and Silver's mouth fell open as he breathed out his master's name.

"_**Kaname…I**_…" Silver cried. He wanted to _say_ something. But what he wanted to say, he didn't know. It could have been _anything_, yet in the end, he _couldn't_.

All the sensations they were feeling finally came into sync at that moment.

Both souls were pushed into spellbound and pure ecstasy, and together they fell down the cliff of sheer rapture.

Too soon - the moment slowly passed.

Kaname collapsed upon him, as Silver collapsed against the wet bed. Amidst the scent of hot blood and even hotter sex, Kaname was heavily panting against Silver's snow-white neck. Silver felt like he was floating in a sea of absolute elation and smoldering adrenaline.

Silver lazily stayed sprawled on the bed and watched his master through half-lidded and strangely satisfied eyes. Master Kaname's eyes had gone back to their original dark-brown color and they were also dripping with utter satisfaction.

Without Silver's approval, Kaname pulled out from inside him, flipped to his side, and lay beside him still heavily panting. His limbs were visibly shaking, and his dark-brown eyes were half-closed.

Silver's hazy mind was falling into restful darkness, but then one of his master's soft hands gently touched his sweating face, while another gentle hand caught his chin. Soft lips closed around his and Silver closed his tired eyes and half-heartedly traced his tongue along and inside his master's mouth.

The soft kiss ended when slumber descended on them.

* * *

**The Following Night…**

When Silver woke up, his body still _strangely_ carnally ached, but luckily, his master was nowhere to be found in the large hotel room. Yet despite Silver intense desire to go back to bed, he got himself up, and marched himself to his bathroom in order to clean and freshen himself up for the night.

Nevertheless, when he looked into the darken bathroom mirror, he still saw two small open wounds on his neck. _What?_ Silver's eyes widen in alarm.

He snapped on the bathroom lights in total panic. In the sharp light, Silver reached up and touched the still slightly bleeding red marks on his neck, and his soul darkly shuddered.

**No!**

_It wasn't possible! _

His master…_jailor_…couldn't have….

_What did this mean?_

Silver could barely breathe.

_Why was his master's fanged mark still on him? _

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N: **And so ends this chapter! XD I haven't written such scenes in months I believe. I do hope it was worth the wait. ;D Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave your reactions in a review. Short or long – I love them all! XD


	54. Chapter 53 Apprehension

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

For the first time in Silver Night's life, he was utterly befuddled.

As he looked into the bathroom mirror, he saw two small wounds throbbing near the nape of his neck.

_What did this mean?_

Silver could barely breathe.

_Why was his master's fanged mark still on him? _

Why?

Shouldn't such a thing have healed already? _Yes._

Yes, that was the _usual_ way. His master had drank his blood numerous times before, and the following night after such an event, he was _always_ perfectly healed. So...why were the two small wounds still there?

Why? _Why?_ **Why?**

Something about this worried Silver so deeply that he could barely _think_, let alone, _**breathe**_.

Then, without a single warning and as if the two mocking wounds were silently waiting for his awaken acknowledgement, Silver suddenly felt a terrifying emotion zoom through his entire panicked psyche.

The foreign emotion seemed to burn the inside of his veins. The alien emotion seemed to scorch his soul and sear his heart. This strange emotion felt so _dark_, so _terrifying_, so _enormous_ that Silver was terrified by this unexpected emotional assault that was completely overwhelming his being.

By darkness, Silver had never been so _petrified _before.

Why? Why was it at _this_ time did he feel such an completely alien yet scarily familiar sensation?

Until this moment, Silver's life had been one of untold pain, loneliness, and incompleteness. It was a life of a cursed shadow person. It was a life of one who was merely an _illusion_.

Silver had met men whose hearts seemed to be made of black coal. Silver had met women whose souls were blacker than midnight. He had encountered and courted and deceived so many. He had felt fear. He had suffered apprehension. He had experienced_ horror_. He had been beaten, bloodied, and 'killed' numerous times. Silver had play their games, created new rules, and _survived_.

Silver had learned to fight and scheme, lie and destroy, and through it all he was always alone and never, _ever_ safe.

So, few things could horrify him. Very few things indeed.

Yet, at this moment, Silver had _never_ been so _petrified_.

And only _one_ creature on this earth could make he feel so.

_**Yes**_, few things could _unnerved_ him. Few things _indeed_.

But one of those few things was _**his true self's**_ _**displeasure**_.

His true self suddenly felt _**so near to him**_ at this moment, yet, in spite of this incredible event, ironically, Silver wanted to _run_ so far away from him.

This sensation...

This emotion...

This _feeling_...

This internal fiery passion that was _**not**_ _Silver's_ but was _still_ a deep inner part of him all the same, burned inside his sick heart like a _fiery judgment_.

It _scalded_ his bones.

It _charred_ his blood.

It _scorched_ his mind.

It _blistered_ his soul.

And suddenly, Silver knew the name of this terrible emotion that assailed him at this very painful moment. Thus, this terrible emotion was...

**HATE.**

_**It was a dark, raging, ferocious, uncontrollable, type of hatred. **_

And, without warning, Silver felt like he was being viciously ripped away from his horrifying new reality.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Three: Apprehension **

* * *

**Present**

Queen Yuki Kuran's bleeding heart felt so..._tight_.

Tight. _Tight_. _**Tight**_.

Squeeze. _Squeeze_. _**Squeeze**_.

She could hardly _breathe_.

It felt like an obese elephant was merrily dancing on her aching chest.

Tight. _Tight_. _**Tight**_.

Her back was rigid. Her shoulders were taut. Everything inside her felt so tight, so stretched, and so unyielding. Her pale red lips were harshly pressed together with the type of pressure that could grind stone into dead dust. Her ruby tongue felt tough, heavy, and fixed. Her dark-brown eyes burned, but she couldn't even summon the energy to blink them.

"_If things had been different..." _

**Hurt. **She was so _hurt_.

"_If things had been different, I would have..."_

**Pain. **Her pain was about to tear apart her sanity. She could _feel_ it, and she _couldn't_ stop it.

"_If things had been different, I would have loved you forever." Her Zero had said as he laid dying. _

**CRACK.**

The anguishing throbbing in her hot heart was simply making everything _tighter_.

Yuki held her sweating forehead between her shaking hands. She needed to do something. She needed to do something _now_. She needed to do something..._anything at all_...but she needed to do _something_..._**to stop her breaking!**_

_Like a lost and mad dog. _Her murderous husband said.

**Hurt. **

Crack.

_Like a lost and mad dog. _Her murderous husband said with a smirk.

_**Pain. **_

Crack. _Crack_.

_Like a lost and mad dog._ Her husband, her brother, her blood, had not felt any shame or guilt for the evil he had done.

_**Agony.**_

Crack. _Crack._ **Crack. **

**That was it.**

By darkness, Yuki felt the last few shreds of her sanity _crack_ and -

_**No, Yuki.**_A small voice suddenly said into her.

Yuki felt the cracking stop. Something inside her awaken.

That small voice...that small, _small_ voice...

The bitter tightness in her heart was still there. And the tightness was still so plainly and overwhelming there in her heart, but at those two little word the tightness in her heart..._loosen_ a bit.

How long have she gone without hearing that small, _small_ voice?

_Do not let him win._

_Do not let him win, Yuki. _

Yuki felt a tiny piece of herself mend itself.

In the far, _far_ past when Yuki had drifted between the twin shady worlds of sanity and insanity, she always had a small, _small_ voice inside her that would encourage and comfort her from time to time whenever she lost her way.

It was something that she had kept a dark secret. Yuki had and was still too embarrass to give a truly accurate description of that terrible time in her life. However, during the lost five years of her madness, Yuki had heard _voices_.

Countless voices that assaulted her unbalanced senses and each voice was recognizable yet always so foreign to her weakening awareness on reality.

The voices were many, but they were universal in their mission to destroy her. Time and time again, the numerous alien-familiar voices in her head told her to do all sorts of cruel, evil, and insane things.

The voices talked and talked and talked and talked. Never did they stop_. Shut up -_ she would mentally scream. _Be quiet -_ she would beg. But the evil voices just wouldn't shut up. Wouldn't shut up or be quiet or stay silent. Yuki would be continuously assaulted with evil bits of advice until she simply did what the evil voices told her to do because she just wanted them to _please shut up. _

Nevertheless, there was always _one_ voice that wasn't evil or crazy or rotten.

One voice that did not tell her do to evil, crazy, or rotten things.

_Just one._

When she was in the inner midst of her madness, she had thought that this odd and rare voice was of her lost child or her lost Zero or _someone_ that loved _her_ for _her_. That one voice sometimes kept her from doing unspeakable things. However, it only came when she was on the edges of falling, _falling_, _**falling**_...

Yuki still didn't know where this voice came from _or_ what it was _or_..._anything_...

In spite of that, she knew this one single voice was _**good**_.

_Don't be afraid. _

_Don't be sad. _

_Don't worry. _

That small voice always gave her gentle encouragement. That small voice always had soft statements to comforted her in her time of utter darkness. That small voice always had smooth words that she desperately needed to hear.

And Yuki, for the untold number of time, intensely listen to that small soft voice.

_How will you face me in the afterlife if you let him win, Yuki? How will you be my hammer of justice if you let Kaname have everything? _

Yuki's dark-brown eyes flashed open. The tenseness in all her four limbs slowly ebbed away.

_You can win, Yuki. _

Yuki's aching heart still felt terribly _tight_...but the pain of that tightness was slightly _loosening_...

Win, Yuki.

_Win, Yuki_.

**Win, Yuki. **

A goal and a dreadful hope was suddenly presented before her and she reached towards it with inconsolably needy hands.

_Win, Yuki._ The small voice kept repeatedly saying.

Yuki's heart opened._ Okay, then_**. **She instantly decided that she would win at that very moment.

The small, _small_ voice seemed satisfied, and it immediately stopped its chanting encouragement.

Soon, a strange calmness descended over her at that moment. There was a peaceful silence in her mind and soul.

However, it was one thing to prevent Kaname from winning, it was quite another for _her_ to figure out how to win.

But she _would_.

She had promised it.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

Silver felt like his understanding of his place in the world was being ripped to tiny shreds.

He didn't understand what to feel at this moment.

Panic. **Pain**. Fear.

**Dread**. _Horror_. Alarm.

Silver was filled with such an awful mixture of emotions that he didn't know what to really honestly _feel_ at this moment in his unpredictable life.

He was back in that strange dream he had a few weeks ago. The same dream that revealed to him the existence of the third waxed self and the small clue behind the reason of his true self's tormented state.

He was back here in this awful three room dream doors and Silver was quite unsettled.

The golden first door was tightly locked.

The silver second door was wide open.

The bronze third door was still closed.

Silver eyed the bronze door for a brief second, but the golden door quickly took over his immediate attention.

Silver had seen his trapped true self many times when he was healing from his numerous brushes with death over the long decades. After he refused the first black door of death, he would have to climb countless steps to heal himself and reclaim his right to life. The climb up those many steps was always so hard, but when he would finally reach the top he would always be completely healed.

However, at the top of those steps he would be confronted with two doors. The silver door was the hallmark entrance port back into his accursed life, but the other golden door was slightly transparent, and thus he could catch a glimpse at his true self.

And whenever he did so, his true self was always _**suffering.**_

The man looked exactly like himself, except for the fact that he had short silver hair and a slight tattoo on the right side of his face. Chain-like thorns would repeatedly cut into his tender flesh and trap him in place. At his pale throat was a decorative silver collar engraved with the number zero on it. But despite the terrible pain, his true self never utter a single word of complaint. Even while his red blood would continuously drip down his trembling flesh, torn clothes, and bruised pale skin.

Sometimes, when Silver looked at his true self, he desperately tried to save him. Other times, when Silver looked at his true self, he threw his bitter rage at the jailed man because he was the only other person Silver could truly trustingly talk to.

Yet, the suffering man would always say the same thing over and over to him whenever he answered his bitter and sad questions.

"_Until my punishment is complete."_ His true self would responded.

But in that last dream, Silver had met the unknown _third_ self. The third self that called itself the waxed self and it was the first time Silver had interacted with a creature that knew exactly what he was and his desperately hopeless situation.

The waxed self had given him an answer to his always-repeated question, even though the answer was _far_ from satisfying.

"_For breaking."_ His waxed self had responded.

Silver still didn't know what to make of that answer.

However, Silver had suddenly realized something. The moment he had learned about the waxed child self, Silver had no longer seen or heard from his true self.

One step forward, two steps back.

If Silver had a mind to do so, he would viciously curse his two other selves.

Unfortunately, the chaotic mixture of emotion behind that locked golden door alarmed Silver so terribly that he could not think of _anything_ _else._

Silver had never once felt such a dreadfully concentrated emotional flood from his true self. Never.

And he was utterly frightened.

**HATE. **

That massive dark feeling of intense hatred that Silver felt deep in his soul was coming from _behind_ that golden door of his true self. Silver had no idea of how to response.

_Why this rage? _Silver was truly terrified. _Why this black hatred? _

Silver had no idea why such a thing was happening now!

His true self never seemed to response to him whenever they were together, but this dark hatred...

Why?

_Was it because of him? _Silver's lungs suddenly squeezed out all of his air at the thought. _Was it because of Silver?_

If so, why? What had he done to deserve this dark hatred?

Then, out of the blue, the bronze door of the waxed child self slammed open with a earsplitting bang.

Silver nearly jumped.

Like a livid angry wolf, the waxed self child, who really was no child at all, tore into the dream room like a furious beast.

While Silver wasn't a coward by any stretch of the imagination, even he took a small step away from the deceptively weak child. The first time Silver had meet this person, the child had the clearest lavender eyes he had ever seen. But now, those rich color eyes were gone, and they were replaced with a violent crimson pair.

The waxed self wasted no time on pliant greetings. The deceivingly small child pinned Silver with a terrible dark glare. "_How dare you?"_ The waxed child self hissed. "How dare you try to form a love bond?"

_A love bond? _Once again, Silver was shocked speechless. However, Silver would never had _dared_ to do such a thing! In order for Silver to even form such a thing he would have to be allowed to bite his master in return and speak the words of love's bond.

Shared blood drinking between vampires was such an intimately intense and private thing. However, for a mere _Doll_ to drink from a _Master_ was an unheard of event. It had never ever happened before, and probably never will.

Then there was the fact that as an enslaved Doll, Silver's natural need for blood wasn't present. It was one of the few things that was a plus to being a Doll. Dolls did not have that insistent instinctive need to drink blood to survive like the majority of members of his race.

Besides, the Doll Spells prevented such a thing to even _last_. Love bonds and Doll Spells were two completely different forms of ancient vampire powers. Thus, due to the fact that if both types of powers were present on a creature, the clash would destroy the poor soul who would foolishly allow such a thing to happen.

And Silver Night would forever be an accursed Doll. Therefore, he would have never ever have tried to form such a precious but stupid thing.

"I did not try to form one, waxed self." Silver wearily said in his defense. That if anything was true! Silver would never have tried such a death-certain thing!

But the child self continued to angrily glare at him. "You're right, shadow self. You didn't. This new master of yours tried it."

Silver felt as if his blood had turned into ice.

_**Master Kaname**_...

_Master Kaname_ had tried to do what now?

Silver could only stare.

But the waxed child self was far from done. "And you would have stupidly allowed that if you had the chance, I see." The child darkly snarled. "Then I will make sure you never ever have the chance to form such a bond."

Silver felt like his incomplete heart was ripped to shreds at his waxed self's cruel words.

A love bond...

His master had tried to from a _love bond_ with him...

If Silver had been able to finished the other half of such a thing, he would have, wouldn't he?

Because only complete and happy people could form love bonds, couldn't they?

And Silver desperately wished to be a complete and happy person.

All logic and rationality had gone out of Silver's stunned mind. "Why can't I bond to someone?" Silver suddenly hissed at his waxed self. "_Why can't **I** bond?_ What is so wrong with something so pure and good?" Silver felt a heavy bump in the back of his throat. **_No!_** He would not cry! He would not show this wretched person such weakness! "I want to bond! I want happiness and love and kindness as well!"

The angry waxed child self rapidly blinked his red eyes at the sudden display of Silver's held back emotions.

The two stared at each other for one long moment.

Then the waxed child self heavily sighed "It would be too..._cruel_...for you to form a bond, shadow self. It would be _too cruel._"

The third self looked at Silver with...strange pity. "And only the true self can form love bonds, shadow self. _Only the true self can_." The waxed self sighed again. He looked at the golden door quickly, and seemingly without thinking about it, the waxed self added, "And the true self does not desire to ever form a true love bond _ever_ _again."_

Silver suddenly felt like he was hit was a heavy metal hammer.

Ever again?

_Ever again? _

**Ever again?**

Didn't that mean that...

" _**I**_ – we - the true self...had once formed a _true-love bond_?" Silver's deep voice asked in shocked amazement. His purple-gray eyes watered with an emotion he couldn't understand.

A..._true-love bond_.

Of _all_ the rarest of treasures he once supposedly had...

_He_ – **they** – had once formed a true-love bond with someone?

Silver's heart suddenly exploded with emotions.

He..._**he**_ had formed a true-love bond with someone? Silver's quick mind raced like a prized derby horse. He – _they_ – his true self – had formed a true-love bond?

That was it! That was the key! That was the key to the solution of his cursed life!

With a voice that barely sounded like his own, Silver hurried asked. "When was that true love-bond formed? Who was that love-bond formed with? I must know! I must know _now_!"

Silver had finally found out the key! He had finally figured it out and now he could -

But the waxed child self looked horrified at his slip of the tongue. "You must forget this, shadow self." The waxed self quickly said. "You must forget what I have just said."

Silver was suddenly enraged. _"NO!"_ Silver yelled back defiantly "If I cannot have love, kindness, or happiness, I demand to know this one thing at least."

The waxed self's crimson eyes flashed. "You do not _need_ to know." The waxed self darkly said. "**_No_**...you do not _want_ to know. You do not, shadow self. **You. Do. Not.**"

"Don't you dare tell me what I want from what I don't want, you impetuous little twit." Silver uncharacteristically insultingly hissed. "I must know who that person _I_ – **we** – true-love bonded with!"

Suddenly, a memory of one of his past interactions with his true self blazed to his remembrance.

_She's like the woman I failed. _

And just as abruptly, Silver felt like he didn't want to know what he just longingly asked for.

Still, the waxed child self glared at him, and Silver suddenly felt like he was being forced back into the world of reality. "This conversation will not ever happen again, shadow self."

A rebellious feeling crept into Silver.** No.** Even if the truth was hard, Silver still wanted to learn it! "I refuse! Tell me!"

Another silence came between them.

"If you refuse...then I will _**destroy you**_, _shadow one_." The waxed self threaten. "I will destroy you for not fulfilling the true self's wish."

Silver's purple-gray eyes widen in shaken apprehension. "You can't do that!" He argued. But for some strange reason when Silver looked back at that child, he had the feeling that the odd child _wasn't_ lying.

"I have done it _many_ times before, shadow one. I have done it many times _before_." The child stepped closer to Silver, but Silver took an unsure step back. The silver-haired child's red eyes glowed with a deadly promised. "_You_ only exist to fulfill the true self's one wish._ I_ exist to ensure that his wish is accomplished."

There was another silence between them

And all of a sudden, Silver felt so _tired_.

He suddenly felt so depressingly tired, painfully sad, and knowingly empty.

"And what is the true self's one wish then?" He despairingly asked. He hoped the answer was different. He really, _really_ hoped the answer was different this time...but...

Silver Night felt the beginning of his shadow heart die a slow and painful death.

"**Survive**." Was the waxed self's last word before he disappeared, and Silver was pulled back into **_reality_ **once more.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait for an update my dear readers. Some bad end of year stuff has knocked me for a loop, I believe. Despite that, I hope you are enjoying the tale so far! Happy Holidays! And thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long, I love them all! ;)


	55. Chapter 54 Nervousness

**Sliver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

_Smirk._

It was hard, but Zero tried to prevent his lips from twitching.

But still.

**_Wow._**

Yuki _really_ had no clue as to how to hold a gun correctly, did she? Was she getting her ideas from a movie or something?

Zero raised one of his silver eyebrows, but decided to take pity on his struggling soon-to-be wife. "Yuki..." He softly said. "You need to keep your back _straight_ and keep _both_ your eyes open."

_Hmmph!_

Without saying anything, Yuki frowned at her soon-to-be husband and then she turned around to frown at the far away target practice dummy they were using at the Hunter's Association's private shooting range.

Yuki really didn't want to say anything in her defense because Zero _was_ the expert here. However, she took a small bit of pleasure in the fact that Zero was so serious about this! Yuki wasn't very confidence with using guns, and vampires could always find ways around them if they really _needed_ too. However, Zero was adamant that she learn how to use one properly. After all, to quote Zero's annoying practical (but strange for someone like her) bit of advice: "Nothing stops a rapist better than a bullet to the brain, Yuki."

The fact that Yuki Kuran-Cross was a pureblood vampire and only a _fool_ would even _think_ of doing something like that to _her..._didn't seem to factor into Zero's weird brain. Then there was the fact that she had two of the most overprotective men in the world watching her back! Zero would kick the living snot out of any man who dared to even _look_ at her wrong, while Kaname would sooner destroy the entire world than allow her to break a _fingernail!_

Honestly, those two always blew things way out of proportion sometimes!

Yuki almost rolled her eyes. Goodness! Yuki may not be the greatest warrior woman in the world, but she could defend herself at least! See! She might not know about guns, but she had a weapon! And she used it often enough! Even though it was usually in its rod form, it turned into a cool death scythe when she got angry enough!

_So there_, world!

Zero couldn't win against the urge. Try as he might, Zero's rebel lips formed a light smile against his cool guy will. Honestly, Yuki. He shook his silver head with amusement. He quickly move towards her and he stood right behind her and hugged her waist.

Yuki tried not to blush too deeply as Zero's right arm guided her gun-holding right hand towards the dummy shooting target gently, and Zero's left hand was thoughtfully hugging her waist.

Yuki's small nose was tickled with a lovable scent.

Yuki could barely hold back a cheery grin. There was one benefit to all of this though! In this position, Yuki was able to freely soak up Zero's warm and steady presence and scent without her being a creep or weirdo about it! Things were definitely looking up.

Yuki took in a deep inhaling breath.

The special scent of Zero seemed to gently glide into her nose and sail through her body like a warming embrace.

Zero _always_ smelled like the richest of sandalwood. His natural scent had a wild woodsy but calmly musky scent that always made you feel safe and secure. Zero's unique scent always gave Yuki a sense of peace and confidence. No matter what – Zero's scent always told her that he was here - and real and steady - and that he would _forever_ kept her safe.

Zero's warm breathe tickled her right ear and Yuki couldn't stopped her blush. Fortunately, at that angle, Zero wouldn't be able to see it!

Zero gently guided Yuki's gun holding hand towards the target, but he was...distracted.

Very distracted.

Very, _very_ distracted.

Very, _extremely_ distracted.

Damn you hormones! _Focus!_

Yuki's unique natural scent and close warm body was making him think of things that were _not_ related to target practice dummies.

So, while trying not to seem like a complete dweeb, Zero secretly inhaled the scent of Yuki's short brown hair.

As always, it was the scent of white tea and ginger.

For another small moment, Zero felt absolute serenity and pure happiness.

Yuki's unique scent always remained him of purity and total acceptance. Yuki was the first person to refuse to let go of him, even though he was a monster that could destroy her very soul. Yuki was the first and only person that tried to understand him and _like_ him for who he _really_ was. Yuki was the first person that fought for him, cried for him, and continued to always save him from his darkness.

He owned her so much and he would happily spend the rest of his days making this most special person of his happy and safe.

Once again, Zero silently vowed that he would always, _always_, **always** protect this special person.

So, as Zero guided her hand, Yuki opened her dark-brown eyes and focused intensely on the far away dummy target.

The scent of white tea and ginger - fresh, pure, free, and bright – lightly danced in the wind.

The scent of rich sandalwood - calm, steady, confidence, and safe – tightly embraced the breeze.

The twin scents mingled with each other.

And, as one, they pulled the gun's trigger.

It was a Bull's Eye hit.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Four: Nervousness**

* * *

**Present**

Rima and Seiren looked at each other.

Before them stood the elevator that would lead them up to Yuki's private upper three floors of The Queen's White Wing of the Imperial Hotel. The two women had both tried to contact their royal friend, but she wasn't answering or responding to any of their urgent messages.

This was most disturbing.

Despite the fact that they were on the ground floor, above them, Rima and Seiren could feel various spikes of dark and wild pureblood vampire power burst out and shake the foundations of the building from time to time.

So while Rima was obviously on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Seiren was experiencing a emotion she didn't typical experience.

And that emotion was _**nervousness**_.

This situation was something that Seiren was intimately familiar with and the normally stoic army woman felt like history was repeating itself.

Yuki, her dear friend, was falling back into madness...again.

By darkness, Seiren didn't know what do to...and she was _greatly_ alarmed because of it.

What in the world could she do?

What in the world could she _actually_ do?

Then, suddenly, the last person on the face of this dark earth that Seiren wanted to see _right now_ appeared before her like a dreadfully mocking poltergeist.

Seiren blinked. Was that unnerving man singing 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat?' However, while the melody was light, the words...were _utterly_ _disgusting_.

'Cut, cut, cut a fool! Burn his skin and bones! Death, Death, Death, a dying life should scream." A dark male voice gleefully sang as he walked the hallway.

Yoshiro Yamamoto sauntered up to their position with a wicked smile on his pale dead lips. His fangs were far too bright and pearly. Did the man brush with bleach?

For a strange moment in time, Rima was utterly speechless at this new development, but Seiren's blood was boiling.

Of all the people to appear, Yoshiro did not factor in high on her list.

Something bad was going to happen.

Seiren could _feel_ it.

The man was dressed in his usual coverings – dark thick sunglasses, a black cap, and his typical black clothing. However, strangely, in his deceptive soft hands, he was holding something she didn't think was right, and it seemed _so_ out of place for such an unsettling soul to have.

The man known as the Queen's Dark Hand was holding a tiny little black kitten.

Even the kitten itself seemed unsettled by its current possessor.

Was it even _breathing_?

Rima was rapidly blinked her blue eyes at the strange picture, but Seiren's silver eyes flashed with dark warning.

Yoshiro gave the two distressed women a peculiar smile and, without any forewarning, pressed the _up_ button for the elevator.

"What are you doing?" Seiren harshly demanded. There was no possible way that man was even considering to see her dear friend at such a delicate moment.

Yoshiro's dark lips mockingly twisted. "I am going to see my dear dark lady, army woman."

"_**No**_." Seiren snapped. Her voice stated that she wouldn't allow any argument. "You cannot go up there." This man would make the entire situation worst!

Yoshiro smirked. "My dear dark lady has _summoned_ me, army woman." His white fangs gleamed. "Do you usually question her wishes?"

Seiren took in a deep sharp breathe, but Rima's blue eyes narrowed darkly. "Why in the world would she summon you and not speak to either of us?" The lawyer rashly demanded.

Yoshiro raised a nonexistence eyebrow at Rima's harsh question, and it seemed like he was about to say something, but then he decided to closed his mouth.

And _smirked._

A moment of disturbing silence came between the three unsettled persons.

BING!

The two women nearly jumped at the loud sound.

The evaluator door suddenly opened and without so much as a word, Yoshiro walked into the elevator, holding his little black is-it-dead-is-it-alive kitten.

The man lips twisted in a dark smile again, and Seiren could feel the hair on the back of her neck burn with anxious fright. That strange man always unsettled her, despite her outwardly indifferent persona, but Seiren felt like she was frozen into place at his new evil smile.

While the two women couldn't see the eyes of the Queen's Dark Hand, something about his expression told them that they didn't want to see his hidden eyes at that moment. Eyes were the windows to one soul. after all.

Therefore, did one really want to look into the soul of someone so... _sinister_?

_That would not be greatly advised._ Seiren nervously thought.

Then out of the blue, the man mocking said. "Do you want to know why the Queen trusts me more then she trusts the both of you?" Yoshiro lightly asked.

Rima gasped in outrage.

Seiren hissed her disgust.

But before the two women could rebuke the cruelly mocking question, the twin elevator's doors slammed shut.

* * *

Sosono stared at herself in the mirror.

She was rapidly waving her silk Korean fan quickly in order to cool her desperately red face.

By darkness, what an...intense show...she had witnessed during her familiar spying.

Her pale white hand fan her red face faster.

_King Kaname Kuran..._

Honestly..._my_ how things have _changed!_ If Sosono had remembered correctly, the original King Kuran that she had met and fought against so long ago would merciless torture and hang those types of men who engage in that sort of..._affair_.

By darkness! Why was she so strangely hot?

My, My, _My_...

Through her various pigeon familiars, Sosono had seen many things take place within the royal family. She had seen the King drink himself drunk. She had watched the Queen's breaking mental state. She had witnessed the two children squalling with each other. And she had seen an unknown man cooking a fabulous dinner within the tyrant king's bedroom.

Everything was _most_ curious.

However, the terrible argument between the two children had spiked up her interest. The young _dear_ prince had informed his _little_ sister that their wicked father was cheating on their weak mother with _another __**man**_.

To say that Sosono was shocked at the revelation couldn't even begin to give justice to her surprised feelings.

So, she had instantly went to work to find out _who_ this third party person was. Surely, she could use such information for her advantage, couldn't she?

Thus Sosono had spent her hours on her minicomputer looking at all the various pictures, reports, and articles written about this entire First Court Session drama of King Kuran and Queen Kuran so she could find a clue as to who that third party person was.

It was like finding a 'Mr. Kim' in Korea!

She hadn't found _one_ clue as to who could possibly be that person who King Kuran was cheating on his wife with. Sosono's thoughts went wild, and she was beginning to think that perhaps it was Ichijo (He _was_ the closest to the man after the queen...) or maybe even that whorish Aido (Stranger things do happen...), but those thoughts were utterly useless in the end.

But based on what she had just (happily) saw, the King's hidden lover was the _silver-haired bodyguard! _

In a strange way, that made _perfect_ sense.

Sosono felt like slapping herself. Clearly being imprisoned so long had addled her mental sharpness!

Of course, it was the _bodyguard_! Honestly! How could she have not seen it? For one to even think that a pureblood vampire king like _Kuran_ would need a _bodyguard_ was utter foolishness. She should have immediately knew something was odd about it!

Perhaps the cover story for the man's close existence to the royal family was that he was the bodyguard of the little princess? It made sense to Sosono to believed that Kuran would do such a thing to protect his precious little daughter. However, if that was the true case, why was the man in the _tyrant's king_ bedroom, eh?

Pureblood vampires are notoriously territorial. They didn't like others in their personal spaces. And she would know - being one.

But by darkness! The Far Eastern Vampire King had a hidden male lover!

And my, my, what a _glorious_ creature that man was!

Sosono blushed hotly again!

The King had gently held his beautiful moonlight face and kissed him breathlessly. The man had willing participated in the action like a gifted aristae, and then the two engaged in a not-so-innocent _activity_...

Sosono waved her silk fan even _faster_.

By darkness, would she have to take a cold shower to get rid of this dark blushing face of hers?

But, all in all, Sosono finally realized her _plan of action._

Honestly, Sosono felt like Lady Luck's graces were far too kind to her lately. If Sosono had any sense (which she did – in great abundance) , it would be that she would need to be on her guard _now_ more than _ever_ before because of it.

After all, Lady Luck was someone you should always be careful with.

She was notorious for being fickle.

* * *

_**An Hour Later...**_

Queen Yuki Kuran knew that if she didn't start doing something _now_ she would immediately crack apart again. That good voice had saved her again and her only true comforter was here, but that won't be enough.

It wouldn't be enough to hold back her madness.

And she couldn't go mad right now.

Zero...

_Zero, I will win_. Yuki promised herself again for the thousandth time. _**I will win.**__ But in order to do that...I think I might have to become a __**monster**__.._

While Yuki had gotten comfortable with hating herself, she didn't want Zero to hate her, but if she...

_In the afterlife, will you still look at me with kind eyes after everything is finished, Zero?_ Yuki mindlessly thought.

She was in one of her private second floor hotel rooms that had been converted into her temporary office.

On one of her office's side couches, The Queen's Dark Hand, Yoshiro Yamamoto, was playing with a small black kitten and was humming a unknown tune that suspicious sounded like 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat'. However, she couldn't make out his words as Yuki's current attention was on a very surprising phone caller on her private secret line.

Yuki wasn't quite sure _why_ this man was calling her at this moment.

The European Pureblood Vampire King Maxwell Von Anderson's smooth voice sang into her ear. "My dear, I'm _quite_ impressed." His masculine voice echoed with amusement. "_Half_ the Far Eastern Realm? My, _my_, you are quite the _impressive_ little thing."

"Indeed." Yuki neutrally said.

While she had known this man for quite a bit of time, she didn't trust him for a second. In spite of this, the man strangely liked to offer her unusual bits of advice from time to time. Yuki had no idea of what to make of it. The man clearly disliked her soon-to-be ex-bastard-husband, so why did he take such a vested interest in _her_?

"I hope you'll have _great_ success in this grand drama of yours, my dear." Maxwell's voice continued to sing. "The beginning of this show was quite impressive, so I can't _wait_ to see the _ending_."

Yuki's eyes flashed darkly. But something about Maxwell's sing-song tone made her curious. "You don't think I'm mad?"

"Aren't _all_ purebloods mad in some ways?" Maxwell's voice sounded like it had a dark smirk in it. "After all, we are the ones that live forever on a diseased and dying world! If one wasn't _mad_, how could we ever survive?" There was a small pause in his voice. "What is _wrong_ with a _bit_ of _madness_? Doesn't it always change the world?" He whispered.

Yuki's always-tight heart suddenly lost some of its tightness.

_Doesn't madness always change the world? _

At that moment, Yuki suddenly realized that she found something she could do. _Madness!_ Something that could rip apart Kaname's plans against her. _Madness!_ Something that could help her win. _Madness!_

But to get that something – she would have to do something utterly crazy and totally mad.

**Madness. **

_Doesn't madness always change the world? _

"Goodbye, Maxwell." Yuki said in a strangely closed tone.

"_Goodbye_, my dear Far Eastern Queen." Maxwell replied. "Nonetheless, if you desire anything at all of me - simply give me a call." A dark flavor was added to his singing voice. _"I am at your services, my Lovely Mad Queen." _

Yuki's pale face was frozen stiff. "Goodbye, Maxwell." Then she promptly turned off her phone.

She stared at nothing for a moment. Yuki's mind was completely blank.

**Emptiness**. _Lost_. Loneliness.

Foolishness. _Wildness_. **Madness**.

Yuki turned her cold dark-brown eyes towards the oddly quiet Yoshiro. Yoshiro's dark sunglasses prevented Yuki from seeing his eyes, but Yuki knew the man was intensely focusing on her.

Suddenly, Yoshiro gave her a bright smile. "Are we going to _Hell_, my dear dark lady?" He asked carelessly. "We haven't been there for quite some time!"

Yuki stared at him. Everything suddenly clicked in her mind. "_Yes_." Her voice sounded _so_ strange, _so_ distant, and _so_ lost. "Yes, Yoshiro. We are going to Hell."

Yoshiro's bright smile blazed even brighter. "Oh, goody!" He happily said. "What are we going to do when we get there?"

Yuki's tight heart felt like it stopped beating. "We are going to capture a demon, Yoshiro." She said quietly. "He is a monster demon that I want to viciously murder, but I desperately need to use."

There was a expecting wicked silence between the two lost mad dogs.

"How can I help you achieve this, my lovely dark lady queen?" Yoshiro breathlessly asked.

"First, find a way for us to get into Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island." Yuki's dead voice commanded. "I require the witness testimony of the monster man called Kenichi Daisuki. " Yuki's dark-brown eyes flashed crimson. "He is the man that murdered my precious Zero, but I will use him to murder Kaname's entire world."

Yoshiro was so pleased, that he gave her a great bow. "As you wish, my dear queen."

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** And so ends a new chapter! Ha ha!

Honestly, to answer a question I keep getting – the ending of this story is still being worked out in my head and with every chapter I write. Currently, there are five possible endings I'm serious considering, but at this moment everything is up in the air, really! XD And no, I won't tell any of you guys of the five possible endings! ;D _**That**_ is a hidden author's secret I _**must**_ keep! (Though, I will greatly enjoy reading all my precious readers lovely opinions and thoughts on that matter! XD)

However, I will give you guys one _tiny_ clue to my mad thoughts: There is a 34% chance of it ending in Kaze, or a 34% chance of it ending in Zeki! XD Did that help? No? 0_0' Well, anyways, please leave a lovely review! Short or long, I love them all! :D


	56. Chapter 55 Calm

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**Present**

Altantsetseg Tatar, the Pureblood Vampire Royal Governess of Mongolia, had the feeling that the Korean Pureblood Clans were _up_ to something.

After personally witnessing the intense First Court Divorce Session of King Kaname Kuran and Queen Yuki Kuran, Altantsetseg had the dark instinctive feeling that things were going to get _far_ worst.

Altantsetseg was greatly unnerved by this.

She had silently watched the Chinese Royal Governor, Huang Fu Wang, and the Korean Royal Governor, Byung Gi Kim.

Huang Fu seemed harmless during the entire affair, but that man _always_ seemed harmless, so that wasn't saying much. Huang Fu was a master of pretending to be harmless because he was from a family that was globally known as being the best at pureblood vampire assassinations.

The Pureblood Chinese Clan of Li were originally the rulers of the Chinese Vampire Realm, but after their attempted rebellion against King Kuran of 2083 AD, they were nearly wiped out, and King Kuran had replaced their rule with the Clan of Wang.

Which wasn't really so great for him, but it was all he could do.

The Pureblood House of Wang had historically been known to betray for the highest bidder. As the dark sheep of the four Chinese Pureblood Clans, the treacherous House of Wang was deeply despised by their people. However, with the backing of the ruling Japanese power, their people feared to utter any small complaint about their homeland tyrants.

The Mongolia Governess closed her bright pink eyes, and slowly massaged her temple.

Altantsetseg didn't think the Chinese Purebloods were planning anything though. _No._ Her instincts were screaming that it was the _Koreans_ who were _up to something_. She was so sure of it!

Altantsetseg had watched the Korean Governor, Byung Gi Kim, but while his behavior _was_ suspicious, it was the unknown black-haired woman _beside_ him that got Altantsetseg's suspicious pink eyes.

Despite the fact that Altantsetseg knew the woman was actively hiding her great powers, Altantsetseg could still feel some of her power vibrations due to her own unique abilities.

The woman felt **ancient.**

She was just like the Ancient Pureblood African Queen Biashara Bimnono and the strangely otherworldly Far Eastern Vampire King Kaname Kuran. While Queen Bimnono's status of being the oldest living thing in the world was unquestioned, Altantsetseg always felt like King Kuran was a close _second_. Of course, the idea was utter nonsense. King Kuran was the firstborn son of the late Elder Haruka and Elder Juri Kuran, so he _couldn't_ have been as old as Queen Bimnono.

But his _power_...

His strange and massively overwhelming power was so _great_ and felt so _ancient _to her. It was a public secret that King Kaname Kuran's overwhelming power was unheard of for someone so young (for purebloods, anyway) and the rumor mill still had not solved that great mystery of _who_ and _what_ exactly King Kuran was.

Even _Queen Bimnono_ would lightly shoot curious and suspicious eyes at that great and mysterious man during the court session from time to time. King Kuran's power was too much for someone of his short life length. By darkness, Altantsetseg still wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

_Who_ was King Kaname Kuran, _really_?

And _who_ was that strange unknown Korean woman with the gisaeng hairstyle that was so _similar_ to him?

"What should we do, Lady Tatar?" Batbayar Rus of the Pureblood Mongolian Rus Clan lightly asked. "Should we inform King Kuran of a possible rebellious plot from the Koreans Clans?" Batbayar was her most trusted friend and, more importantly, he agreed with Altantsetseg's position, goals, and desires for herself and her people.

But by darkness! When will those Koreans - and in another way the Chinese - vampires _ever_ learn?

King Kuran was not someone you _**angered**_.

Altantsetseg would have thought the Chinese vampires, at the very least, would have had enough sense not to enrage their Japanese Pureblood Ruler at this moment. What were _they_ thinking if they were really agreeing to help the Koreans in their rebel actions further? Didn't King Kuran nearly wipe out their rebellious factions? The Chinese Pureblood Massacre of 2083 AD by King Kuran had nearly lead to their extinction!

By darkness, Altantsetseg didn't know what to do, but she _had_ to do _something!_

While Altantsetseg was used to the various pureblood clans of the Far Eastern Realm referring to her and her people in the most degrading of terms, she had grown use to dealing with it.

Once, a long _long_ time ago, the Vampire Kingdom of Mongolia was a wondrous power and place. However, due to greed and their ancient court's various factions' desire for power – their kingdom had destroyed itself. Thousands upon thousands of vampires had died in their bloody civil conflict. It had taken centuries for the Mongolian vampires to rebuilt their numbers, but even today, they weren't even half of the population they once was.

This was due to a variety of _external_ factors, though.

And the Pureblood Vampire King of Europe, Maxwell Von Anderson, unhidden desire for her land and people was one of them.

While Altantsetseg had no great love for her new Japanese King, she found him to be more agreeable than that blond blue-eyed foreigner. At the very least, King Kuran was a native to their section of the globe and thus was somewhat familiar with their old ways and ancient customs.

However, before they had been under the control of a foreign power for so long that her people had become deeply embarrassed of themselves. They were the running joke of the Far Eastern Realm and Altantsetseg wanted to reinitiate their lost bright pride in themselves.

But to do that, they needed to survive.

She was a leader. Leaders were to protect their people. Altantsetseg wasn't about to allow her people and clans to be further destroyed because of the petty conflicts and whims of foreigners and aliens. They could call her whatever they liked. However, Altantsetseg would make sure her people and herself lived and thrived as best as they could.

After all, purebloods could lived forever.

Time was thus on her side.

She just need to make sure everyone she cared for _survived_.

"No." Altantseseg said. "Let's first see what happens." She heavily sighed. "Let us not disturb these calm times just yet."

No matter what happen, Altantseseg vowed, her people would survive whatever storm was heading their way.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Five: Calm **

* * *

**Present**

Kaname sighed deeply to himself. He really should be focusing on his various duties.

Kaname had gotten up early this night but he had accomplished absolutely nothing. The night had just started, and Kaname was already getting the curious feeling that it was going to be an extremely long one for him.

Despite the fact that he was in his private make-shift office on the first of his three reserved hotel floors of The Imperial Hotel's King's Red Wing Building, Kaname's current thoughts were not on his current business and later meeting papers in front of him. No, Kaname's thoughts were simply not focused on such _useless_ things like capital and commerce at this moment.

In his mind's mental window and through the use of some of his pet bat familiars, Kaname was silently and secretly watching his silver-haired lover as he continued to deeply sleep on his bed in his private bedroom suite that was located on the penthouse floor. While the bat's position had much to be desired, at least one of the private room doors to his bedroom was still slightly opened. However, when Silver awoken and if he decided to leave the room, Kaname would not be able to see him.

So, for now, Kaname silently watched over him as he rested his dark-brown eyes. His business papers totally forgotten for the moment.

Silver was currently sleeping in the nude, but Kaname could see bits and pieces of his torn 'bodyguard' uniform scattered throughout the high-polished wooden ground. Still, it had been so strange to see the man in such attire last night as they made their way here. Kaname was so used to seeing his ideal lover in his various traditional Japanese clothing outfits composed of yukates, haoris, and hakamas. The way that Silver generally styled himself pleased Kaname's tired eyes. The man was always impeccably dressed. Thus, whenever Kaname had come to him in his lover's private chamber back in the King's Palace, Silver was always so breathtakingly beautiful and was a familiar historic creature that amazingly belonged _only_ to him.

Whenever Kaname was with his precious Silver, nothing else seemed to matter to him during their time and moments.

On every occasion that Kaname was with Silver it felt like time had suddenly come to a silent stop, and that everything outside of themselves had disappeared. When Kaname stepped into Silver's Chamber, he stepped into his sole sanctuary and his perfect reality's dream. Whenever Kaname had stepped into Silver's presence, he was always greeted with something pretty.

Yes. _Pretty._

Even though no soul would ever suspect it, seeing pretty things was a secret pastime delight for Kaname Kuran.

Kaname knew that the majority of his associates would _never_ think that he would care for such things. After all, while Kaname would presented himself impressively to his various audiences, at the end of it - he was very plain and traditional about his appearance. Despite the fact that he was once again voted "Vampire World's Sexiest Man Alive" last year by that vile vampire society gossip rag blog _The Court_ (though he did feel a bit of prideful satisfaction that he had _yet_ _again_ defeated Maxwell and Edwards in the looks department, both men had been voted second and third respectively by the readers of that rag blog), Kaname didn't much care for his obvious unique handsomeness.

He saw himself every day, so his 'handsomeness' was something that was completely lost on him.

But Kaname _did_ like pretty and beautiful and pure things.

He really, _truly_ did.

But Kaname feared that he was also too well-versed in breaking his beautiful things.

A sudden memory flash of his precious wife flashed into Kaname's mind. The image he had of his dear heart was of the last time he had seen her.

_She had been dressed in a beautiful scarlet two-piece silk dress suit set and her long black hair was pulled from her face and held in a tight flowing high ponytail down her back. Her crimson smoky dark-brown eyes combined with blood-red lipstick made her look like an inspiring but equally imposing ruler in her own right. She looked at him without a trait of fear and demanded that he submit to her ludicrous demands._

His dear Yuki...

Something inside Kaname felt a little raw.

_Yuki..._

Yuki was also one of his precious and beautiful things. Just like Silver. Just like Juri. Yuki was also one of his most precious people.

And soon, Kaname knew that he was going to utterly break her..._again_.

He would have to do it, because _he_ _desired_ to keep her by his side forever.

Yuki was what he had waited for his entire long and lonely existence. Kaname had suffered, yearned for, fought, planned, and sacrificed too much to allow her to just _leave_ him.

How dare she even consider it! How dare she even _consider_ leaving him after _all_ he has done for her!

He would never allow it! He would _never_ allow her to get away!

Kaname had never denied his intense possessive obsessions and he wasn't about to start now. He had never denied that he was a monstrous man. Kaname knew – really, he did - that his desire for her was wickedly selfish and absolutely cruel but..._he didn't care._

Yuki was and will _always_ be Kaname's.

Regardless of his warring emotional state lately, it was Kaname who had all the cards in his favor. It was Kaname who had the most power in this crisis, and unlike the great hypocrites of the world – Kaname had never once denied the fact that he was an evilly powerful and absolutely selfish man.

Kaname Kuran was a monster. Yes, he surely was.

However, monsters always won in the end.

And at least he was a _honest_ one.

Nevertheless, Kaname knew that his first plan against Yuki in their first court divorce session would not be enough to stop the woman's desire for divorce. After all, Yuki _was_ currently mentally competent and once she underwent an intensive psychiatric examination, her mental stability would be guaranteed and she could thus proceed with her divorce against him. While Kaname's countermeasure had been successfully employed against her, it had only given him some desperately needed time for his second plan against her.

His second plan would ensure that Yuki would be forced to remain by his side and that she would have to submit to his total control.

Kaname felt another twinge of guilt.

But he crushed the cursed feeling.

He was never _ever_ going to let Yuki go. Just like how he was never ever going to let his Silver go.

Silver would forever belong to him. And so will Yuki forever belonged to him.

Kaname refused to allow anything to get in his way. **Nothing**. Not his _feelings_ and not even his _conscience_ would he allow to stop him from achieving his ultimate intentions.

After all, once he achieved all his desires, he would simply _make it up_ to her – to them. He was a King. He was powerful. Therefore, _he_ would be _able_ to get and give her – _them_ - whatever she – and he – needed.

And quite frankly, Yuki needed to simply _just get over the past_ and finally _heal_ herself. By darkness, what exactly was her problem? What was the use of her constantly reflecting on his past sins going to do for her anyway? She needed to just get over it already.

Still, Kaname had another major dilemma in his interpersonal affairs.

And the center of that dilemma was the currently sleeping, beautifully nude silver-haired man in his hotel bed.

Despite himself, Kaname was...greatly embarrassed.

Last night..._last night_ had been utterly intense and mind-blowing. And Kaname's possessive emotional attachment to his ideal lover had grown even _more_ because of it. Kaname hadn't thought it was possible, but Silver had become just as important to him as his heart, Yuki, was.

Silver Night had become Kaname's _consuming_ love.

But there was a deep pang in his desolate heart because of this.

When Kaname had awoken early from his day slumber, he had learned of what he nearly tried to do in the previous night.

Kaname was mortified.

What was he thinking? What the hell had he been thinking? Had he even been thinking at all?

Kaname had tried to form a love-bond with Silver.

By darkness, Kaname was beginning to think he was a _fool_.

Damn you, alcohol! Damn you to the very pits of the darkest hell!

Why in the world did Kaname try to do that? Why? _Why?_ **Why?**

Kaname had known of the possible consequences for his actions. While he _loved_ Silver, Silver was still his Doll and had a love-bond actually formed between the pair...Kaname would have, in essence, destroyed his precious person. The Doll Enchantments and Vampire Love Bonds were oppositional to each other in every way.

Kaname would have surely destroyed him had Silver been in the mind to cement the bond by drinking his blood and whispering the ancient words that would have blended their lives together at that moment. Kaname had clearly not been in a rational state of mind, and coming to think about it, Silver had been completely overwhelmed by Kaname's unusual passionate onslaught last night to even realize Kaname's true intentions but...

But _why_ had he acted so recklessly? Why? How could he have done such an foolish and greatly stupid thing?

Oh, Kaname very well knew the reason. He could lie to anyone except himself.

Kaname wanted the connection of another's heart.

And the only person's heart he desired to have – other than Yuki's – was his Silver Night's.

Make no mistake, Kaname _also_ wanted Yuki's complete heart for himself as well. However, Yuki had... _changed_. Her change was mostly for the better in his opinion, but after she had regain herself after her lost five years of madness – she wasn't what he thought she would be to him.

She wasn't what she had been in their school-day past.

Yuki's attention had now been divided. Her focus had been split. She lived in both past and present. She was no longer bright and innocent, joyful or airy. She couldn't truly focus totally on him and him alone like he deeply wanted. Sure, she was a mother, a queen, and a variety of other things. And she was also raising their two children and helping him cement his rule over his great vampire kingdom. But she was always so busy.

So busy, _busy_, **busy**.

She never had time for him.

And while Kaname wasn't one to openly complain about such things...He did somewhat resent her because of it. He had resented her...greatly.

Silver always gave him the attention he wanted. Silver gave him the special care he yearned for, and Silver gave him the gentle single focus regard that he had always craved.

Yet Kaname had suddenly realized a very important problem.

Too soon, he might lose _his_ Silver.

_**NO!**_ His inner beast snarled. _**NEVER.**_

**HE. IS. **_**MINE**_**. **

Kaname dark-brown eyes snapped open and he violently nipped down his inner soul beast. His instincts and base nature had become _far_ too lively in the last few months and Kaname was beginning to struggle sometimes to control his darker and primal other nature.

But he would have to soon reveal Yuki's 'first love's' living existence to her. And if he did that...he might lose _his_ Silver.

But there was no other way if Kaname were to get everything that he wanted.

Nevertheless, something inside Kaname's dark heart was..._**heavy**_.

What, if by finally seeing Yuki, Silver would transform back into that wretched hunter Kiryu?

Something inside Kaname warred against such a thing.

Kaname did not want to ever lose his precious silver-haired lover. His _ideal_ lover. His perfect companion. These past last months had been like a dream to Kaname. When Kaname was with Silver all his worries, problems, and fears went away.

Kaname had even tried to form a love-bond with that man when he was overwhelmed with his deep emotions, but now, even as he was _clearheaded_, a deep part of Kaname _still_ wanted to try to form such a bond with him. Perhaps even he could finally have with Silver what he never had with Yuki.

A true-love mate bond.

Kaname's lips twisted in a self-mocking smirk. Really, he was quite the monstrous fool.

Kaname felt disgusted with himself.

He always desired what he could easily destroy and he could easily destroy what he deeply desired.

If Kaname and Silver formed a love bond – whether it had by half, consort, or true – they would have ensured Silver's quick death.

Something in Kaname twisted.

The fact of the matter was - the Doll Enchantments were the antithesis of Vampire Love Bonds and they were just as ancient. Thus, the two old powers would have warred for dominance within Silver's tender soul and even if Silver had put up a gallant fight, in the end, the two warring powers would have totally destroyed him and turned him into ashy dust.

The only way Kaname would have been able to save his lover would have been for Kaname to release and free the man from his binding Doll Enchantments.

However, Kaname wasn't sure if he could even do it.

Why?

There were three reasons, really. And one of those reason had a name.

_**Zero Kiryu. **_

Was _Zero Kiryu_ still lurking or alive underneath the persona of his ideal lover?

Zero Kiryu.

Oh, how Kaname was remembering _him_ more and more with each passing day.

If Silver Night was like a lovable precious kitten, Zero Kiryu was like a savage wild tiger.

The ex-human vampire hunter had been a heady mixture of surprising strength, intelligent confidence, and prideful toughness. However, he was _always_ rebellious, _constantly_ unmanageable, and _totally_ disobedient against Kaname's wishes and being.

Kaname Kuran had _never_ liked him. He had _never_ liked the insubordinate silver-haired hunter and the feeling, for an extremely long time, was mutual on both their ends.

Kaname did not like any person who was so..._uncontrollable_ and _unpredictable_. While Kiryu did not like him who embodied everything that had destroyed his young life. They were complete opposites, and Kaname had only tolerated the ex-human's presence for Yuki's sakes. And Kaname suspected Zero had done the same for him.

But...their adversarial relationship had been changing...hadn't it?

_Zero simply blurted out what he wanted to say, "Look Kuran, don't be sad."_

_"I doubt anything will happen Kuran." Zero wirily intoned. "After all, you'll be there."_

_"This is the only time you will ever hear me compliment your power, Kuran." Zero gave him an ironic smile. "You're a powerful and scary guy, but at least you are on my side, eh?"_

_Zero reached toward him with a bloody hand. "Help me, Kaname." _

But Kaname had chosen to destroy him in the end, hadn't he?

Yes, _he had_.

So, would Kaname have to do it **again**?

Kaname massaged his aching forehead.

In the beginning, if Kaname had known that Yuki would have actually developed _real_ feelings for that wretched ex-human, Kaname would have never allowed the two to ever met. Coming to think about it – had Yuki not been turned into a human, she and Kiryu would have never developed that terrible relationship and she would have been exactly want he wanted and deeply desired. Well, to think about it even further, had their 'parents' not been so weak and had actually murdered that vile Rido when they had the chance then...

Kaname heavily sighed.

Honestly, this was why Kaname despised thinking about what-could-have-been, maybes, and ifs. Such thinking always led to illusionary thoughts and fable wishes. And Kaname was not a man who dwelled on _past_ things.

But the fact of the matter was, was that Kaname faced a cruel dilemma. Yuki was not exactly his ideal love but she was his best candidate for the position of his eternal companion – his heart. However, his ideal lover, Silver Night, could never be the candidate companion for his desperate need of an eternal companion. Despite the fact that Silver embodied his idea of an ideal consort in every possible way, he was such a _fragile_ and _temporary_ thing.

No matter what - Zero Kiryu/Silver Night were _so_ fragile and _so_ temporary.

He – _they_ – were something that his accursed twin enemies of time and age would _eventually_ mercilessly snatch away from him.

How long would the silver-haired man even live? How long would that wondrous purple-eyed being thrive? Even if Kaname had searched for every possibility, plotted every probability, and bargained for every chance – how long could Kaname stretch out that precious person's life for? Another hundred years? Two hundred? Three hundred? Four?

But what were a few mere centuries, when Kaname Kuran was virtually _eternal_?

But Yuki was like him.

Yes, Yuki was _just like him._

She was _pureblood_. She was _vampire_. She was becoming distorted and damaged just like him. And she understood him _best_.

It's just that she never truly accepted him _as he was._

Why was that?

Flash of more past memory suddenly assaulted him.

_Kaname reached towards her and pulled her close to him. "Oh? You are still __**my**__ wife, Yuki." Kaname darkly whispered in her ear and held her firm. "Despite the past, you will always be my __**wife**__ and I will always be your __**husband**__."_

_But Yuki had pulled herself away from him like he was a dirty disease. Dark-brown eyes blazing with utter fury, she hissed her poisonous words. "You were my __**second**__ choice in that."_

Kaname had been _immediately_ hurt by her harsh words. _Second choice._ His hidden heart had been torn to bloody pieces at that exact moment. _Second choice!_ But like always, whenever Kaname had been hurt, his natural response was to...hurt even _more_ cruelly back.

**Second choice.**

Perhaps, in a way, when Kaname had realized that Yuki had loved Kiryu _more_ than she loved _him_...that was when this confusion had all started. _If _Yuki had _just been sensible_ and stuck with him, then Kaname _wouldn't_ have done what he had done to the uncontrollable and wild Kiryu.

However, if he had not done what he had done, wouldn't that mean that he would have never met or have his Silver?

_"My master, I am Silver Night." Smooth wet fingers slid up his neck and massaged behind his left ear in a slow circle. Silver pulled himself so close to Kaname's head that his hot breath teasingly danced close to his right ear. "I will do anything and everything that will please you." Silver's other hand slid down Kaname's chest, down his abdominal wall, and landed right at the boundary that was his belt. Silver slowly parted his lips with his red tongue. "Your pleasure and happiness are my only desire."_

Silver Night was the man that easily ignited his darkest of passions.

_"What does your heart desire, my master?" Silver repeated again slowly._

_Kaname Kuran could only say three small words. "Give me peace."_

_Silver's perfect ruby lips curled into a mysterious smile. "As you wish, my master."_

Silver Night was the person that offered him tranquility.

_Silver quietly gasped. "__**Kaname..**__." His fingernails tightly hooked themselves into Kaname's pale shoulders as Kaname slammed him against the screaming cherry blossom tree._

Silver Night was the creature that spoke his name in the softest of caresses.

_Silver looked slightly confused at the question. "You are my master. I should always know what best pleases you."_

Silver Night was the only being who tried to know _him_ on _his own_ _terms_.

"_I will always be here beside you."_

Silver Night was the soul who willingly promised to be his eternal companion.

**However...**

Such a promise...that last promise that Silver had made to him...was something Kaname _knew_ that precious person would _never_ be able to keep.

Time would surely pass, and age would one day take him.

Something about that future disturbed him so greatly that Kaname wanted to promptly dismissed his unsettling musing from his mind.

But his problems still remained.

Silver Night was not a pureblood.

Even if Kaname had love bonded to him, even if Kaname gave him his blood every single day, even if Kaname ensured that his health was perfect and his life easy – Kaname would one day _lose_ that man.

He had tried once before. And he _**miserably**_ **failed**.

His last love in this third life and world had died a _piteous_ death because of him. He had tried to stretch that last love's existence... He had so desperately tried because he...

But in the end – _he lost._

Lost. _Lost_. **Lost**.

Lose. _Lose_. **Lose.**

_**Always keep losing, Kaname. **_

That was why he _needed_ to have Yuki. She was pureblood, she was like him. She understood him, even if she didn't accept him. **He couldn't lose her.**

But he also _needed_ to keep Silver. He was vampire. He was his passion. Silver knew him and accept him like no one else ever had. Silver's eyes had always shown him that he accepted Kaname's inner darkness despite him. **He couldn't lose him, either.**

Thus, Kaname still wanted _both_ individuals.

Both – Yuki and Silver – he want to have both of them forever.

But what if _Kiryu_ reappeared and took away his Silver?

A dark answer and solution formed in his mind at that thought.

If Kiryu did _reappear_...if the ex-human vampire hunter were to _come back_...

Kaname would simply _erase_ him from their three lives again.

Just like he had done so before.

My, My. Wasn't he such a _horrible_ person?

But even if Zero was erased again, Kaname would eventually lose Silver one day. While Kaname would fight it with every fiber of his being – that one thing was certain.

One day he would lose his precious love again.

Therefore, Kaname wasn't about to lose all his vampire power and half of his life span for some _feeling_. Yes, his heart was important, but Kaname's _mind_ was something that he preferred to prize.

And what was the point of having love if one had no power?

Kaname's heart blacken with the dark questions.

What was _love_ if one did not have the _power_ to _**protect and keep it?**_

Suddenly, with a dark understanding, Kaname knew he could _never_ break free his ideal lover from his Doll State. Despite the fact that now the man was so central to Kaname's heart and world, if Kaname ever did so, he would lose half of his life span and all of his immense vampire power.

Kaname _knew_ he could _never_ do it.

He just _couldn't_.

It was foolish to even ask – Kaname could _never_ do it.

Love without power was like having gold without having a locked safe.

After all, why risk it? _Why risk everything he had?_

Kaname had yet to come to a reason for those types of questions.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Happy New Year, my dear readers! XD And so the plot marches on! But wow! I got quite the reaction last chapter! And the majority of you are still pro-Kaze, I see. XD I think I only have one strong Zeki-only fan in the form of Nek0baba. 0_0' Still, at this moment, I'm really up in the air about it. So, let's just see how everything goes, shall we, my dear readers? :D

However, on a side note, I have never planned for this story to end in a threesome. (I'm anti-threesome! X_X. Very anti!) It will either end in Kaze or Zeki or something else I haven't thought of yet...maybe... (Dodges a tomato.) However, I expect that a lot of my dear readers will have an extreme emotional roller-coaster ride as we continued on with this odd-ball story of mine. (Please accept my apologies, now! :3) Goodness knows, _I'm_ a wreak whenever I decide to sit down and write this, so I can't even imagine how you guys feel. 0.0 I'll will try my best to make this tale worth it for the New Year!

Anyways, thank you for reading and** _please leave a review – short or long! I love t__hem a__ll!_ :D**


	57. Chapter 56 Clouds

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

As the Vampire King of the Northern American Realm, Robert Edwards had come to the conclusion that there were three forces on this blue earth that one should never cross or anger. One of those things was the great hydra dragon herself, his dear U.S. of A, the second thing was VNN news (Damn you, Lord Senri! Damn you to hell!), and the third thing was...black women.

The Oval Office of the White House was completely empty except for two unlikely pair of individuals. Condoleezza Powell, the 78th Republican President of the Human United States of America, gave the pureblood male vampire before her a disbelieving raised eyebrow. Her small black round glasses were lightly balancing on the tip of her honey-brown nose. Her natural black twists and coils were pulled up away from her face and were held in a tight grand bun on top of her head.

Yes. The future truly is a remarkable thing.

"Mr. Edwards, you don't really believe that I'm going to buy that story, do you?" Condoleezza lightly remarked. She was calmly sipped on a strong cup of black coffee that was heavily loaded with sugar.

By darkness, if Biashara ever had a human clone, Condoleezza would fit the bill perfectly.

Vampire King Robert Edwards started to nervously scratch the back of his head. "Could you _pretend_ to just buy it, President Powell?"

President Powell gave him a bright happy smile.

"Not a chance." She quickly shot down. The iron woman took another small sip of her coffee and then she pinned him with a heavy look.

Edwards started to sweat.

Madam President heavily sighed. "I'm not sure what the real situation the vampire world is in, Mr. Edwards, but..."And here she gave him another heavy look. "I'm not about to allow you Nightwalkers to simply do as you please. Some of my associates from the League of Vampire Hunting has informed me of what truly happened in Korea and I am _not_ pleased."

Robert pouted. Damn that League! They were just like the Vatican and Hunter's Association! Why did these humans always have to stick their noses into their affairs! Why?

_Well, we __**do**__ eat them, sometimes._ A weird voice in his head snapped at him.

_Naw-ah! That's all in the past!_ He thought back to himself. _Humans are friends! Not food! _

The President of the Human United States continued to frown at him, waiting for his answer, yet, Robert's bright green eyes ironically flashed. "Well, just call me a chicken and simply fry me, why don't you?" Robert sarcastically pouted again.

President Powell glared daggers at the pureblood vampire before her. That stereotype was still running strong, wasn't it? "I'm a _vegan_, Nightwalker."

_Humph._ Did he have any snappy vegan remarks in his arsenal, then?

President Powell sighed. "What is the likelihood that what happened in Korea could happen here?"

"It's as likely as a water park in hell, madam president." Robert defended. Somewhat insulted. "_I_ keep taps on _my_ people."

She rolled her eyes at him. Robert's eyebrow nearly twitched. He was still a vampire king! Don't just blow him off like that! "What are the chances that the internal issues in the Far Eastern Vampire Realm will get out of control?" She continued her questioning. "I'm aware that they own and produce much of the world's Vaian's needs."

Edwards shifted a bit in his seat. But as he calmly looked her in the eyes, he suddenly knew he wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of this with his typical witty (to him anyway) comments. He sighed and suddenly became serious.

"I'm not sure." Edwards bright-green eyes met her dark-brown ones. "I'm not sure _what_ is going on over there and this is probably the first time this has ever happened before. Pureblood vampire couples don't generally separate, so this is _quite_ the _surprise_. _Plus_ this is a _royal_ pureblood vampire marriage bond we are dealing with. And Queen Yuki Kuran has demanded _half_ the Far Eastern Realm." He heavily sighed. "A lot of things that have never happened before are happening. So, _I don't know_."

President Powell pressed her lips tightly together. Clearly she did not like the answers she was getting, but what could Edwards do about it?

Edwards sighed again. He would have to compromise here, won't he? "I have Ambassador Watanabe keeping an eye on things over there for me." Edwards said. "If something changes that could affect us, I will immediately let you know, _Madam_ _President_."

President Powell nodded her head. "Please do, _King_ _Edwards_." She mirrored back his tone. "I don't want any rain clouds from _your_ side of the world to cloud up the time of _my_ presidency. I already have enough to deal with already with those damn Democrats." She rolled her tired dark-brown eyes. "Please make sure that what happens in the Nightfall world, _stays_ in the Nightfall world, did you _understand_?"

_Humph._ Edwards smirked. He really did needed to introduce Biashara and Condolezza to each other. Surely they were long lost sisters or something.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Six: Clouds**

* * *

**Present**

There was only one thought present in Juri's head the minute she woke up from her restless day rest. It had been bugging her the entire day and she barely got any rest because of it.

And it was all because of her _brother_.

Stupid Haruka!

_"Our precious '__papa'__ is __cheating on mother with another man__!" Haruka spat at her face._

Stupid, _stupid_ Haruka and his mean words and false lies!

Papa would _never_! Father would _never_ cheat on mother! Never ever _ever_!

Papa wasn't that type of person! If Papa was cheating on mama, then wouldn't he have agreed to the _divorce_ then? He didn't so..._so_ he couldn't be cheating on mama! He couldn't! He couldn't!

Juri had stayed in her private hotel room on the second top floor of The King's Red Wing Building of the Imperial the entire night and day after her big argument with Haruka. Mika had tried to ask her what was wrong, but Juri had felt in no mood to talk. Thus, she had isolated herself to think, but her young heart felt like it was breaking all over again. Sleep had not healed her like it usually did this time.

Was her entire life a lie?

Everything about her peaceful world felt like it was slowly being ripped apart from her desperately clawing hands.

Papa and mama were _not_ true-love mate lovers.

Juri didn't know what to think.

Papa and mama were _not_ true lovers.

It..._hurts_.

It hurts..._so much._

Juri had _always_ thought that Papa and Mama had a true-love bond. She _always_ had. She always had. They had such an understanding between and of each other and..._and_...

Juri felt like crying.

She felt like filling her entire room with her tears. And she wanted to talk and cry to someone. Someone that was nice and sweet and smart and caring and good. Someone who would _not_ say nasty things about her father, or her mother, or her life in general in a weird way to comfort her.

People always did that. People always took sides and never tried to see things from other people's perspectives.

Juri knew Papa loved mama with his _entire_ heart. And Juri believed Mama had loved papa with her entire heart as well. But..._but_...but mama had a true-love mate bond with _another_ man, didn't she?

Another man.

A man who was _not_ Papa.

Something inside Juri felt _terrible_ for Papa. That..._that_...had to have _**hurt**_ him _deeply_, no?

But..._but_...didn't Papa _murder_ Mama's true-love mate? This true-love mate called Zero Kiryu?

And who was this Zero Kiryu guy anyway!

Juri's small lips pressed themselves together tightly. Zero Kiryu must have been a terrible person if Papa had tried to murder him then!

_But..._

But Mama wouldn't have true-love mate bonded with a terrible person, now, would she?

But if Zero Kiryu was a _nice_ person and _Papa_ had _murdered_ a _nice_ person then...then...wouldn't that mean that _Papa_ was...not a nice person?

No!

Probably!

_No! _

Maybe!

_**No!**_

Yes!

That would be the case, if it was true? If Papa had murdered him, right?

Juri felt her world crumble further.

"_I hate you, mama! I hate you!" _

Juri felt like her heart was being ripped to shreds. In her anger, she had yelled those misspoken words to her dear mother, because she was _so_ hurt. She was so hurt and so angry and so confused - that she did the _meanest_ thing she could, and so she hurt the person who was hurting her. Which had been her mother.

Juri felt _terrible_. Maybe Haruka was right that she was a _stupid little idiot. _

Nevertheless, Juri wanted to _talk_ to someone. But not just anyone! Someone that would _listen_ and _understand_ and _care_.

Juri couldn't talk to Papa because Papa was _part_ of the problem. Juri couldn't talk to Mama because Mama was _also_ part of the problem. Haruka would just yell at her again for being so stupid, and would then say mean things about Papa again, and Juri _didn't_ want to hear that now! Her good friend, Fuyumi Kain couldn't come up here! And Mika would take Mama's side and also say mean things about Papa. Then there was old Butler Rio...who would just be old Butler Rio...and not say anything to her.

Who in the world could Juri talk to about her feelings? Who in the world could Juri talk to and she feel safe and comfortable with?

**Who? **

Suddenly, Juri remembered his father's bodyguard softly spoken words to her when she nearly fell on her face on last night's red carpet affair.

"_Silver Night, the Knight with Lavender Light, reporting for duty, my precious princess." Silver had teasingly said as he held her close. The scent of sandalwood and roses swirled around Juri's soul, and his long beautiful silver hair protected her highly embarrassed watering eyes from the hungry flashes of the papazzari cameras. "Don't cry, Juri. I'll never let you fall." Silver's perfect ruby lips formed a kind smile. "I will protect you." _

_**Silver**_...

Juri's young face suddenly blazed a deep crimson hue.

But...she suddenly knew what to do! That was it!

Juri could talk to Silver!

That was it!

Juri needed to talk to her dear fiancé, Mr. Silver Night Angel Man!

_He_ would know what to do! He could comfort her and make her feel safe!

Juri wanted to see him! Juri needed to see him right now! Silver _always_ made Juri feel safe and better! Silver was just so perfect and kind and wonderful!

If she saw him, everything would turn out alright, wouldn't it?

Wouldn't it?

_Yes_. Yes, it would!

Juri got up and decided to get herself ready!

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

The music that the King's Left Arm, Hanabusa Aido, was hearing didn't _quite_ seem right for this particular time or situation. A strange old foreign song was filling the musky air of the lightly occupied human bar lounge that was strangely closely located near The Imperial Hotel. Hanabusa had wanted to drink in a place that wasn't occupied with the wretched members of his race and this bar was the best he could find on such short notice.

However, Hanabusa wondered if perhaps someone somewhere was trying to send him a secret message. Perhaps because of all the female lives he has ruin over the years? Was he going to have to one day pay for it?

Naw. Ms. Payback seemed to like him somewhat.

Maybe. Probably. _Hopefully_.

Humph.

Still the out-of-place music loudly played on the bar's stereo and the song went: "As I went home on Monday night as drunk as drunk could be, I saw a horse outside the door where my old horse should be! Well, I called me wife, and I said to her: Will you kindly tell me please, who owns that horse outside the door where my old horse should be?"

The next lines were: "Ah, you're drunk, you're drunk, you silly old fool, still you cannot see! That's a lovely sow, that me mother sent to me! Well, it's many a day I've travelled, a hundred miles or more, but a saddle on a sow sure I never saw before!"

Hanabusa Aido mildly thought it was highly out of place for a _Japanese human_ bar to loudly play an old Irish drinking song.

Really was his life just some kind of sick joke?

Hanabusa looked at the small dark-brown rum glass in his hand. The liquid seemed to give him an inviting smile. Like a beautiful woman. _Ah, my dear friend alcohol, I always know where I stand with you_. Hanabusa lightly thought.

The strange music continued: "And as I went home on Tuesday night, as drunk as drunk could be, I saw a coat behind the door where my old coat should be. Well, I called me wife and I said to her: Will you kindly tell to me please, who owns that coat behind the door where my old coat should be?"

Then the catchy chorus of the wife's part of the song came again: "Ah, you're drunk, you're drunk, you silly old fool, still you cannot see! That's a woolen blanket that me mother sent to me! Well, it's many a day I've travelled, a hundred miles or more, but buttons in a blanket sure I never saw before."

_Okay!_ Whoever is trying to send Hanabusa secret messages through old Irish drinking songs – please stop. He got it. He really got the message, _okay_?

Hanabusa hiccuped.

The oddly played bar music continued on with each day of week and Hanabusa raised a sarcastic blond eyebrow at each progressive lyric.

Heh.

That's not his life at all.

Hanabusa smirked darkly at his glass and then he took a quick wild shot of it. The burning liquid scorched his throat and the lone human bartender gave him an extremely surprised look. _Heh_. He might not seemed like much, but Hanabusa took great pride in the fact that he could handle his drinks. Hanabusa took another swing of his drink and soon rapidly called for another.

Tonight was going to be an extremely long one and Hanabusa knew he would not be able to get any lovely female attentions or distractions to make it pass faster. Kaname-sama's and Yuki-chan's divorce pretty much destroyed all his vampire new year festivities and party schedule.

His life was really sucking, now.

Hanabusa looked at the glass that the human bartender was wearily pouring for him. The young man didn't seem like he was too comfortable with what he was doing. Hanabusa could have cared less.

_Well, guess I won't come in first in "Worst Man of the Year" award this year, huh?_ Hanabusa thought to himself. _Kamane-sama pretty much has taken that prize this year, I think, and the new year had barely even begun! _

He hiccuped again.

Still, his king surely was _something_ and he had to give credit when credit was due. Kaname-sama was the Far Eastern King for a reason, you know? Yet, Hanabusa decided that he wouldn't feel bad. No. He wouldn't feel bad and he would just continue on as he always did and act like nothing major was happening.

In fact, nothing major _was_ even happening. This sort of thing...well, this sort of thing was kinda expected, if you asked him. After all, Hanabusa didn't see what the problem was. Was there _even_ a _problem_?

Why was everyone so shocked by Kaname-sama's dirty tactics against Yuki-chan?

Why? _Why_? **Why?**

Didn't they know the man they were serving with all their hearts? Didn't they know his character and his personality? If they hadn't known, were they living in la-la land or something?

Hanabusa knew Kaname-sama.

Hanabusa _knew_ him.

Kaname-sama was the man that had murdered his dear father right in front of him. He had sliced off his head like it was a piece of cheese. Father's grey ashes had been so warm. Sometimes, even now, he could feel the ashes' soft texture on his fingers and knees.

And afterwards, Hanabusa got up, bowed to him, and resumed his duties.

Hanabusa took another shot of his rum, but this time, he made sure that the liquid was taken in slowly. The liquid slowly burned its way down his throat.

"_You should not be drinking such a hard liquid so early in the night, Aido-senpai." _A calm and steady feminine voice in his head, that was a voice from the past, lightly scolded him. _"There are things you need to be doing and drinking isn't one of them."_

You know, one of the signs of madness isn't hearing voices. _Nope_. Just because you hear voices doesn't mean that you're crazy.

You are only crazy when you response back to them.

Hanabusa sarcastically whispered back to that irritating calm and familiar voice. "Whatever, you little human girl." He clutched his small glass of rum tighter. "I don't need _you_ to tell me what to do, Sayori." He hiccuped. "And aren't you dead? So, stop trying to look out for me, already!"

The human bartender looked very nervous now. Ha! If you're scared of crazy people drinking, then you shouldn't allow crazy people to drink...or something to that effect...yeah...

Hanabusa frown. His thoughts turned dark.

Stupid Takuma.

Stupid always-smiling, always-cheerful, always-acting _bastard_.

What gave _him_ the right to suddenly declare his love to Sayori and marry the little human woman, eh? Humph. _The bastard._ That rotten bastard wasn't even the one who first started to protect her. When Yuki-chan had asked him to protect Cross's crummy school, Hanabusa had done so. When Yuki-chan had asked him to protect her dear friend, Hanabusa had done that as well.

Hanabusa was going to reveal his feelings to her. _Eventually_. Yes. Well, soon enough, anyway. He had just been taking his time. Taking his time. _Taking his time_. Yeah.

Hanabusa wasn't the type to just mindlessly declare his feelings and ideas anymore after everything he had gone through back then. When he did that before, he generally got slapped. And when he voiced his true thoughts, he got viciously mistreated...but that was okay because...because..._because_...

Because that was just the way it was.

Hanabusa Aido was the stooge of life. A minor character. A performing buffoon in the lives of all those around him. So, Hanabusa Aido was not someone whose feelings and thoughts and ideas _needed_ to be considered. Hanabusa Aido was just someone who did what he was _told_ _to do_ because _that_ was how _it was._

"_Don't make such comments, if you don't mean it, Aido-senpai."_ The Sayori-voice of reason in his head sadly said.

Hanabusa shrugged his shoulders.

Damn, that blond green-eyed bastard.

What right did he have to simply just _easily_ declare his feelings and snatch the girl he really and truly liked away from him like that, huh? Hanabusa would have eventually gotten the courage to tell the hazel-eyed little human that he _really_ did care for her. Heck! Hanabusa would have been willing to put aside his playboy ways if Sayori had only asked but...but...he had _waited_.

He waited. He waited. He waited _too_ _long._

And like a thief in the night, Hanabusa had lost Sayori to that smiling-bastard Takuma.

He was slightly bitter about that.

Hanabusa cued the human bartender to give him another glass of rum.

He was left to his darkening thoughts for a full minute before a surprising presence came upon him.

"I thought I would find you here, ya old man." A familiar young teen voice ironically said. "But ain't it too early for you to be partying, old man?"

Hanabusa raised his left eyebrow and then rolled his blue eyes at the seemingly young teen. "My life is always a party, son." Then he darkly smirked. "My life is always the _best_ of damnable parties."

"Whatever you say, you freaking lecher." His favorite son, Isamu Aido, smirked. He decided to sit right next to him and Hanabusa turned to look over one of his older children. Despite the fact that the teen's voice was scolding, his light hazel eyes were the picture of indifference. Isamu looked exactly like what Hanabusa thought a kid from Sayori for him would look like. Isamu had that pretty mix of blond hair and light and calm hazel eyes.

But then he also had long hair. It was a trait of his ex's – the boy's mother.

Humph.

Sayori never wore her hair long. She always wore it short.

He rolled his blue eyes. "You need to cut your hair, brat." Hanabusa lightly remarked. "Women don't care for men with long hair." Hanabusa smirked. That was a damn lie and he knew it, but yeah...what was the point in telling the truth?

Isamu said nothing, so Hanabusa waved his pale hand for the human bartender to come bring his son a companion glass of rum.

The human bartender frowned at the father and son pair, and defiantly gave Isamu a glass of plain water.

Isamu rolled his eyes but he quietly took the water.

Hanabusa pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to talk about anything in particular, but clearly that goal wasn't going to be accomplished, eh? Well, he didn't want the conversation to be focused on _him_ and his dubious good life, so he decided to start the topic of their conversation.

"How is the prince doing with all of this?" Hanabusa asked lightly. He knew his son was good friends with Kaname-sama's heir.

Like father, like son.

_Humph_.

However, strangely, the young Haruka wasn't anything _like_ Kaname-sama. If Hanabusa was in the dark mood to say it, he would say that someone else had probably being digging up Yuki's vegetable patch because to think that Prince Haruka was the son of Kaname-sama was...so crazy...that it must have been true.

_Ha!_

Haruka was...so _gentle_. Yeah. That's it. He was _gentle_ and _protective_ and..._innocent_.

Sort of like how Yuki-chan was back in the day.

And strangely the murdered ex-human hunter.

Hanabusa blinked his blurring blue eyes.

But damn, Zero-baka! You got _so_ royally screwed over by Kaname-sama! It would serve you right! You were trying to be all _nice_ to him during the wedding preparations.

Pish!

Giving second chances.

Ha!

If a zebra tells you that there is a lion over down yonder, wouldn't you have taken his advice? And I was your zebra, Zero! Your zebra, man! By darkness, you better make sure the fires of his personal pit in hell are particularly _hot_ if you want some afterlife revenge, dude.

But now, Yuki was kinda of crazy herself. Kinda like her husband, but _more so_ in reality. Kaname-sama was just a simple evil prick. But Yuki-chan...Yuki-chan...was utterly batshit crazy.

_Half_ the freaking Far Eastern Realm? Did she not know that husbands had murdered their wives for less reasons, right? Was she _that_ crazy? Well, he had always thought Yuki-chan was crazy though. Even when he thought he was just a plain old human.

A flash of memory assaulted him then.

"_Kaname-sama!" A happily trusting girly voice called out to the group of white-suited walking Night Class students. _

See, crazy.

Nevertheless, he remembered seeing the young royal look ash-faced when he was leaving the Golden Conference Room last night. Damn shame it was. Poor kid.

Coming to think about it, both the prince and princess looked terrible. By darkness, that was kinda sad. A happy little family was being broken up and all. A mommy and daddy and two little rug-rats kids.

Pish.

Really? Who was _he_ trying to kid? _Himself_? Hanabusa didn't give a rat's ass about whatever was going on! Honestly, he didn't! He was just going to do what he always did.

Hanabusa did whatever he was told to do.

"Well, Haruka will probably be greatly upset over the divorce and what went down, so I'm going to go see him with Genji after this." Isamu said, and then sighed. "The newspapers and blog sites are having a field day, now."

Hanabusa snorted. Didn't the media thrive on well-known people's pain? Wasn't that in the job description? You wouldn't believe the stuff they wrote about him on a good day!

Isamu sighed again."But _man_, that guy can't seem to _catch_ _a break_." He took a light drink from his glass of water. "First, the King and Queen split up. Then his father goes and gets a _Doll_ and-"

Hanabusa Aido had been slowly sipping on his small glass of new rum as he mildly listened to his favorite son, but once his mind comprehended what exactly the idiot was actually saying, he promptly drank his glass of rum the _wrong_ way.

For a full minute, Hanabusa dried heaved as Isamu harshly pounded his back.

"_What the fuck did you just tell me, Isamu?"_ Hanabusa flipped out once he got back his voice. "Don't just spread around garbage rumors!"

"I thought you knew!" Isamu's hazel eyes became defensive. "And it isn't a rumor!" Isamu shot back. "Haruka told me _himself_. He even met the guy inside the King's private palace and everything!"

Hanabusa wondered if his life really _was_ ending.

**Kaname...** has...a_** Doll?**_

Of all that is dark and unholy – what the _freaking_ _**hell**_**?**

No _wonder_ Yuki was so pissed off!

But apparently his favorite son wasn't done with his revelations yet. "I thought you knew about this being the King's Left Arm!" Isamu continued in a hurried whispers. Hanabusa could only stare in utter shock. "And it isn't just any Doll the King has." Isamu whispered like the greatest of conspirators. "The King has _the_ Silver Night _himself_." Isamu said to him.

For one moment, Hanabusa let that little tidbit of information sink into his head.

Yes. _Yes_.

It was official.

It seemed that Hanabusa would have to pay _dearly_ for all the female lives he has ruin.

Ms. Payback was quite the bitch.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N: **Ha Ha! And so the plot marches on! XD I have read all your guys reviews lately and let me tell you! I'm quite overwhelmed by the responses. Lots of you are presenting your cases for Kaze or Zeki quite well! XD However, do you really think I'm the type of author that would just let Kaname get everything so easily now, eh? ;3 However, part of the problem is – VK canon! XD Matsuri Hino really made Kaname into a very overwhelming character, didn't she? But a big part of my story is trying to figure out how best to take such a guy down. XD I think that will be quite fun discovering, no? ;)

Anyway, thanks for reading and most especially _**reviewing**_! Short or long - I love them all!


	58. Chapter 57 Rain

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Yoshiro Yamamoto grinned.

Before him sat one of the reigning Lords of the Vampire Underworld – The Illusion Master, Noble Vampire Sakusei Sukakasi. The handsome middle-aged vampire nobleman had short gray-silver hair, and he wore two large pearl hoop earrings. His cold and calculating silver eyes could immobilize any dark soul.

The Noble Line of Sukakasi was infamous for being intimately connected to the dark and still darker factions of vampire society. Whatever crime, whatever vice, whatever sin, the Sukakasi Clan was sure to have a profitable stake in it. It was not known how far or how wide this dark vampire clan's global reach was, but most people knew (if they knew of them at all) that it was enough.

However, Sakusei had become the newest Underworld Lord after his older brother, Masashi Sukakasi (a previous great master of mental illusion and the underground world), had been mysteriously viciously murdered by an unknown rival underground lord nearly 97 years ago.

Rumor has it that Sakusei was a helping hand in his older brother's mysterious murder.

Yoshiro smiled darkly at him.

What a pleasant fellow this man was.

Sakusei Sukakasi wasn't a man who liked to have his time wasted on foolish things. However, opportunity was something that he dearly loved. He loved the concept of _opportunity_. Opportunity was a thing that always, _always_, **always** led to great things. Perhaps those great things were terrible, perhaps those great things were doomed, but Sakusei still loved opportunity.

And the one presented before him right now was a golden one.

"Who is backing you, my dear Yoshiro?" Sakusei's oily voice dripped with hunger. He had a suspicion, but he wanted to hear those key words straight from the horse's mouth.

"She Who is Second." Yoshiro's singsong voice sang. "But I will make her _First_ one day."

Sakusei's silver eyes gleamed._ So, it was the Queen._ Sakusei's lips formed a devious smile.

What an **_opportunity_**.

"What price is she willing to pay for my services, Queen's Dark Hand?" He oily voice oozed. "What price?"

Yoshiro had no eyebrows, but the flesh above his dark eyeglasses moved as if he did. "The price that will make you say yes of course."

Sakusei smirked. "It's quite high you know."

Yoshiro massaged his hands. The new black kitten fur gloves he now wore did nothing to warm him. How terrible. And after all that time he spent on the thing. "Maybe." Yoshiro wildly smirked. His pearl fangs glowed. "But there is nothing under this moon that can't be purchase, right, my Grand Underworld Lord?"

Sakusei's silver eyes flashed.

Opportunity. _Opportunity_. **Opportunity**.

He gave Yoshiro a bright smile. "Nor is there nothing that can't be sold."

"I guess we have a good agreement then, don't we?" Yoshiro smiled brightly back. He held out his gloved black fur hand for a handshake. Hmmm...some of its blood didn't completely dry on it, eh?

But Sakusei ignored the blood and promptly took Yoshiro's extended business hand. "We have a golden agreement." His tone oozed with sinister merriment.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Seven: Rain **

* * *

**Present**

The Vice President of the Hunter's Association, Kaito Takamiya, looked at his boss.

Then he looked at the numerous bullet-filled target practice dummies that were scattered everywhere on the Association's private underground shooting range.

Kaito looked back at his boss and heavily sighed.

Toga Yagari's various guns – his beloved shot gun, Justice's Hammer, his small hidden handgun, The Silent Reaper, and his twin semi-automatics, Sue and Bob - were smoking and looked like they would burn your fingers off if you dared to touch them.

Toga was breathing extremely heavily. His grey-black hair was in disarray. His eye patch was hanging loosely from his face, thus the ugly black scar where his right eye used to be was displayed for all to see. Toga's wrinkly age-spot hands were violently shaking, but surprising, another gun was still in his bloody fingers. That gun seemed to be one of the minor practice guns junior hunters received before they specialized in their chosen offensive weapons.

Kaito sighed again. _This was getting bad._

Kaito allowed Toga to go at it for nearly 30 hours now. The man had not taken a wink of rest nor had he eaten a thing. While Kaito understood Toga's emotions perfectly at this moment, he also knew that Toga couldn't keep doing this. He needed to stop right now.

The man was just too old for this.

If he continued on with these actions, he would end up exhausting himself to death.

Toga's single lifeless blue eye narrowed at his newest target. He lifted up the practice gun and aimed his bullet at another new target practice dummy. His weary lips twisted with dark feral hatred.

Kaito had no doubt that Toga was imagining Kuran's face on that new practice dummy.

He sighed again.

"Toga! What the hell is wrong with you?" Kaito snapped at him. "You've been at it all day!" Then Kaito's hazel eyes narrowed with a sudden suspicious thought. Toga was a bit older than him and there was no way such an old gray panther could be so accurate with his shots after such a long time at it.

"Toga!" Kaito's voice dripped with suspicion. "You aren't on LRP, are you?"

LRP, also known as the Last Resort Pill, was a developed supplement by their Weapon's and Invention's Department of the Hunter's Association. The best way to explain the drug was that it was kind of like a 'If I'm going down, I am taking all you blood suckers with me.' type of thing. LRP was something that a hunter could take if they were low on energy and power and needed that one last hit of energy to help them complete their typical dangerous missions.

During the last century, Level E vampires were not a great threat to humanity like they use to be. This was partly due to the fact that the great majority of purebloods in Japan were slowly being wiped out by the Far Eastern Vampire King. Not including the Royal House, there was only five other Japanese purebloods left alive at this time - Izayoi and Aito Hio (the parents to the late Shizuka Hio), Keneko and Fujitaka Shirabuki (the parents of the late Sara Shirabuki) and the strangely invisible young Giichi Toma.

However, while Level E vampires weren't as common as they use to be, the Nightfall World replaced a new terror for humanity in their place.

The Reestablishment of Doll Possession.

Kaito Takamiya's blood violently boiled whenever he thought of this.

These damn vampires.

These damn wretched _evil_ bastards.

To say that Kaito _hated_ vampires would be the greatest of lies. Kaito didn't just hate vampires. He wanted that entire demon race to be _annihilated_. He wanted to rip apart, bleed, and behead every damn member of that dark race. Kaito's hatred for vampires grew to a level of blanket genocide.

How dare those wretches reestablish such a vile thing in this new world?

How dare they?

Dolls were nothing more than changed human sexual playthings for vampires. They were used, abused, degraded, and then discarded like mere trash once their 'usefulness had run its course'.

Kaito's hate for vampires had increased to unknown levels once he discovered that vile practice was again freely practiced.

And while it was possible for born vampires to be forced to become Dolls, almost always, Dolls were previously human. Young and attractive human beings that were kidnapped from their homes and forced to become sexual playthings to monsters. Although the population of Level E vampires had been at their lowest since _ever_, the population of Level Ds had _exploded_.

All because of the Doll Industry.

How a human being became a Doll was a twisted and cruel story. Typically, a relatively attractive human would catch the eyes of a _Doll Catcher Specialist_. The type of human that attracted such a dangerous eye were generally extremely good-looking and between the ages of 18 and 25. But Kaito had found of few that were older, and to his utter disgust, _younger_ than that typical age range.

After the person was kidnapped, a human would be forced to become a Level D vampire and instead of getting the blood of their creator to stabilize them, they would be subjected to the various Doll Enchantments. However, in order for the Doll Enchantments to correctly work, a _Doll Maker Specialist_ would have to break them. To break those newly-turned ex-humans, they were typically subjected to torture and once their minds were gone, the Doll Enchantments were placed on them.

Doll Enchantments help to prevent the newly-created Level D vampires from becoming Level Es. Nevertheless, those spells pretty much striped those poor souls of their freedom and will. Dolls were under the tight control of their masters until they died (usually murdered) or were willing freed (which has never happened).

There was only one window of opportunity to save a human being from such a dark fate. Hunters would have to hunt and find the Doll Creation Rings and break them out of them before the Doll Enchantments were successfully placed on them. The Hunter Association had had great success in the past, but the leaders of the Doll Industry had gotten smarter and better, and now, hunters barely found any real clues to help them save those poor souls.

And it was _all_ King Kuran's fault.

When King Kuran had legalized the practice of Doll Ownership, the hunters had developed a deep hatred for him. While Kuran had done nothing to encourage the industry, he did nothing to discourage it either. His great indifference had allowed the industry to thrive.

Kaien Cross had felt so deeply betrayed by that act that even now he could barely say the man's name.

_Coexistence._

Such a thing was impossible with people like Kuran.

Still, Kaito had no idea how to destroy such an evil multibillion-dollar industry. After Vaian, Dolls were the second most highly exported item of the Far Eastern Realm.

However, there was at least one voice that spoke against this wicked industry. And that industry was the DLA. The DLA (Doll Liberation Association) was the sole voice of reason that spoke out against this vile practice. But that organization was now seen as a group of weak and crazy fools that only lower class vampires supported.

Surprisingly, Queen Yuki Kuran had been publicly sharp with her disapproval of the industry and that had kept a good number of noble clans from getting one or being involved with the industry at all (and those nobles were the only ones that Cross allowed into his school), but even at this, the vampire world didn't even take her disapproval seriously.

After all, who really had the true power in the Far Eastern Realm to stop it?

That answer was obvious. The only man who could stop it was King Kaname Kuran himself.

And if he did not see a problem with it...why should anyone else?

Oh...Kaito wished he could rip that indifferent, treacherous, and wicked bastard to bloody shreds.

The only saving grace was the fact that the Royal House had never had a Doll. Knowing how deceptive the Doll Industry leaders were, they would have launched greater campaigns and marketing techniques for their vile 'products' if that rotten bastard had one.

But Kaito had to refocus his mind on current and actual events.

"I'm not on LRP, Kaito." Toga heavily breathed. "I'm not on it, yet."

Kaito's hazel eyes narrowed.

Yet?

"Toga." He closed his eyes and then shook his equally graying head. "You need to calm down." Kaito whispered. "If you don't calm down, then we can't do anything."

"He murdered him, Kaito." Toga whispered. "That bastard murdered my precious son."

Toga Yagari's arms suddenly felt very weak. His legs were tingling. His lower back was sore. His ears were ringing. His blood was hot. His eye was burning. And his lungs couldn't seem to keep in air.

Toga looked at the target practice dummy in front of him. His mind suddenly replaced it with Kuran's shocking handsome and utterly indifferent face.

Rage renewed his energy.

Toga raised his shaking gun-holding hands and aimed at that wretched monster's brain and heart – the only two places one could instantly kill a vampire at any level.

Kaito reached out and snatched the practice gun away from his boss. He threw the thing on the ground, and Toga could only look back at him.

Kaito was swiftly uncomfortable. He did not think it was right for a man to cry, but sometimes he would allow some exceptions.

This was an exception.

"You can cry if you want, Toga." Kaito sadly said. "You can cry if you want." He looked back at his boss. "I won't tell a soul." Kaito promised. But he wished Kaien was here, right now. That man could deal with people's emotions better than he ever could, but Kaien had strangely disappeared after the Royal Kuran's First Divorce Session.

Toga refused to cry.

He refused.

All the tears he cried for Zero before had now caused him to be unable to cry for anything again.

_**Zero**_...

My son..._my son_..._**my son**_...

Toga could feel the burning in his heart. The aching in his chest. The tightening in his soul.

I'm so sorry...

I'm so _so_ sorry...

I'm so _so_ **so** **sorry**...

_I didn't know._ Toga thought. _I didn't know__**. I didn't know.**__ Had I known, I would have..._

Toga wheezed.

"That monstrous demon needs to die." Toga's bitter dry eyes and sharp voice said. "We need to figure out a way to kill him."

Kaito's eyes snapped sharply to his friend. "Are you insane, Toga?" Despite the fact that Kaito's heart agreed with the man, his brain was another story. "Do you want to start a bloody war?" He hissed. "And who do you think can rule over the Far Eastern Realm if not that wretched bastard?"

"I don't care. I don't fucking care, Kaito!" Toga cursedly hissed. "The entire vampire world can die for all I cared. The prince could do it. Yuki could do it. I don't care about that." Then his blue eyes blazed. "No. They can all die. All of them! All those night bastards and bloodsuckers can just _die_!"

But Kaname Kuran should be the one that should died _first_.

Toga would make sure he would die if it was the last thing he ever did.

And seeing that he was near death's door already, that was going to happen very, _very_ soon.

* * *

**Two Hours Later... **

As a Pureblood Vampire from the House of Song, the young Gook Song had a great dream for his future.

He wanted to be the next Far Eastern Vampire King.

Gook's black eyes gleamed.

Yes, one day _he_ would be the next Vampire King of the Far East. Yes, one day, _he would be._

However, in order to become the next Far Eastern Vampire King, he would have to do some awful things.

Some really very awfully things.

But Gook was going to do them.

He really was.

Why?

Because he wanted to be a great vampire king just like King Kaname Kuran is.

Gook's young heart oddly felt conflicted.

He really admired King Kaname Kuran. Gook really admired and looked up to King Kaname Kuran.

King Kaname Kuran was what a pureblood vampire ruler should be. _No!_ King Kaname Kuran was the _perfect_ pureblood vampire ruler! King Kuran had world-shaping power, legendary intelligence and cunning, and a wonderful ruthlessness that only _true_ rulers had.

Gook Song wanted to be just like him.

And, one day, Gook hoped to _surpass_ him.

King Kuran was like a demi-god on a fallen world. He was like a powerful demi-god that could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. King Kuran was his idol. King Kuran was his example. King Kuran was his role model.

King Kuran would have probably been his prefect father.

By darkness, Gook Song would have done anything to have King Kuran as _his_ father.

King Kuran was powerful, mighty, and independent. He was not like his weak and sniveling father – Joon Ho Song - who depended on the insight and power of an ancient old hag. No! King Kuran was a man who shaped his own world and created his own destiny. King Kuran had all that he needed and could take anything that he wanted.

And one day, Gook Song would be just like him.

Honestly, Gook felt like he was switched at birth! He should have been born into the Kuran line! He should have been King Kuran's true son! Gook felt like he could have been a better son to the Great King Kuran then the worthless one he had in the form of Prince Haruka.

Bah!

Every time Gook thought about this, he nearly saw red!

Ever since he was little, Gook had been paying quite a bit of attention to the Royal Pureblood House of the Far Eastern Realm. Gook greatly admired King Kuran. Gook acknowledged Queen Kuran's power. Gook liked Princess Juri's beauty.

But Gook didn't like Prince Haruka.

Gook's smooth lips twisted in a snarl.

_Prince Haruka Kuran. _

Heck! Even Haruka's own father didn't even like him!

Haruka was weak. Haruka was useless. Haruka cared too much, and liked to protect useless little people.

By darkness, Gook hated Prince Haruka! He hated him so greatly that his heart nearly screamed!

Gook should have been born in the Kuran Line, and Haruka should have been born in the Song Line! They were completely mismatched! Fate was so cruel! King Kuran deserved a proud son like him, and clearly, his sniveling father should have a sniveling boy as his son like Haruka. But no! Gook had to be born to such a useless man and low-power life!

Life was so unfair!

However, Gook was going to solve this problem!

If he didn't get the good fortune to be born of the Kuran Line, then he would _marry_ into it. If Gook couldn't be King Kuran's real son, then at least he could be King Kuran's Son-In-Law. And perhaps after all this is over, King Kuran would acknowledge him over Prince Haruka and make him be his true heir!

Gook desperately hoped that would be the case.

Therefore, he needed Princess Juri Kuran to be his wife. She was the only acceptable candidate for his future goals and aspirations.

However, Gook still had his part to play in old hag Sosono's plan. Gook's lips twitched. What if he told King Kaname Kuran of Sosono's plots? Maybe if he told the King, the King would get to know him and perhaps even praise him for his loyalty? Yes. _Yes_. Gook could tell King Kuran and then perhaps Gook would be able to...

Gook sighed.

He couldn't.

Despite the fact that Gook disliked his weak father, he couldn't just simply betray the old man. And his mother! His calm and quiet mother would be so heartbroken if he did that.

Gook sighed again.

The special poison needles in Gook's hand twirled in his fingers. He only had two poison needles, and he had received them from Chinese Pureblood Governor Huang Fu Wang. Wang had told him that the special poison in the needles would totally knock out the Prince and Princess and thus prevent them from resisting much or use their pureblood vampire powers. Therefore, by injecting them with this poison, it would allow the Korean Rebels to take the two children easily.

Sosono helped Gook form a plan as to how to get this poison into the two young Royals. However, Gook wanted to put his own spin to it – make the plan his own. Just like how King Kuran would do it!

Gook was going to go after Princess Juri first.

Gook smirked. Yep. She would be first.

After he got her, then Gook would then have to secretly pull Haruka to the side and then jab him with the poison.

Gook groaned.

Prince Haruka was so weak! Why did they have to get him anyway? Maybe he could convince the old hag to just kill the useless kid! If Prince Haruka just disappeared, then...

Gook's eyes narrowed.

Anyway, he needed to start this plot tonight.

Sosono was waiting.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** And so the plot marches on. 0_0' However, as a warning, the coming chapters will be very dark and mature in subject matter and some key things will soon be revealed (i.e. Zero's breaking, the kidnapping, etc.). So, I'm giving you all a heads up now! This is a dark angst drama fic, after all. X_X

Anyway, thanks for reading and please send me a review! Short or long – I love them all!


	59. Chapter 58 Storm

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

_**Warning: Some mentioning of activity of a sexual nature in this chapter. Beware Reader!**_

* * *

**Present**

**THE MAD DOG QUEEN? **

_**A SPECIAL THE COURT BLOG REPORT **_

_**Written by: Suzi Biku**_

_Last Night, my readers, we all watched as the Global Vampire World's foundation was rocked to its core with the startling revelations of the First Court Divorce Session of Far Eastern Vampire King Kaname Kuran and Far Eastern Vampire Queen Yuki Kuran._

_By darkness, my nation! Despite all the shocking revelations of that court session,( i.e. Bimnono's presence, King Kuran's accusations, etc.) you and I obviously understand that only one important thing matters!_

_The Queen of the Far Eastern Realm is obviously __**mad**__!_

_Insane! Crazy! Utterly stupid!_

_I feel so terrible for our poor, poor Far Eastern King!_

_I always knew our dear King could never have been true-love bonded with such a vile crazy slut! I told you all, and you all didn't listen to me! Now look at her! She was so obviously having an affair with the Vampire King of Europe, King Maxwell Von Anderson, months ago and yet no one took my revelations serious! _

_But it is so obvious that she has been passed around more than a bag of chips!_

_Poor King Kuran! Poor, poor, poor King Kuran!_

_But even at such obvious evidence, some still didn't believe me that Great Whore of the Far East would cheat on our beloved King Kuran! But still, even I am shocked at the greatness of her betrayal! Who would have ever thought that evil whore would __**dare**__ to be true-love bonded to another man? Another man? A man other than our handsome King of the Far East?_

_However, that's just not the end of it! That other man of the Far East Whore was an ex-human vampire! __**A freaking ex-human?**__ Can you believe it, my nation? And that ex-human was once called Zero Kiryu!_

_But __**who**__ is Zero Kiryu?_

_Well, my nation, I've done some investigating, and it seems that some of the various rumors going around are reporting that not only was the late Zero Kiryu an ex-human vampire, but also a vampire hunter! Can you believe that, my nation?_

_The queen is most assuredly insane! _

_Our precious king is married and consort-bonded to an insane wretch! Not only did that slut seek to marry a vile ex-human, but to be true-love bonded to an ex-human vampire hunter? Honestly! What a crazy -_

Prince Haruka Kuran threw his useless e-reader against the hotel's restaurant's wall.

It cracked into a million pieces.

Genji Ichijo and Isamu Aido stared at their angry young pureblood friend. Isamu wanted to raise a sarcastic eyebrow, but good sense told him not too. But wasn't that destroyed e-reader Haruka's seventh this year?

"Tell us how ya really feel, Har-Har." Isamu mockingly rolled his eyes.

Haruka ignored his friends. However, he was utterly livid!

That evil blogging cow Suzi! Damn it! Damn that blogger to the darkest pit in hell!

Suzi Biku was a notoriously rude vampire blogger who wrote the nastiest of things about the members of vampire aristocracy. Her/his gossip rag blog 'The Court' was one of the most widely visited and talked about sites of the vampire blogosphere world. Her/his site was always the first to break out the supposed juiciest gossip of the upper levels of the vampire world and with her/his nasty writing style, she/he was a secret favorite of millions of subscribers. However, no one knew who she/he (And she/he had to be a woman! Only a woman could be so cruel! Or maybe she was a gay dude? Maybe! Bah!) even was!

Suzi Biku was obviously a penname. Thus, her/his real identity was still a great secret.

Many purebloods and nobles throughout the years have tried to figure out who that wretched writing witch was, but time and time again, she/he dodged and evaded all their efforts. Suzi always wrote terrible things about all the nobles and purebloods in general, but strangely, she/he was a great fan of his father, King Anderson, and King Edwards.

Haruka's dark-brown eyes burned.

Fakeness – thy name is Suzi!

She/he always wrote nasty things about his mother (aka 'The Great Whore of the Far East'), his sister (aka 'Whore-in-Training'), and him (aka "Mr. Future Gigolo").

But his father? No! She/he never criticized the _king!_ Never! That would just be logical! She/he just _loved_ the guy. _What the hell?_

Who in the would could that evil person be?

Humph.

A strange thought came to the young prince.

Hmmm.

There could only be one explanation about that evil cow's real identity! Perhaps Suzi was his _father_ in disguise?

Haruka's brain laughed at him.

Sure it was a stretch but with all the other things that was going on in his life perhaps even _that_ was possible!

Suddenly, Haruka had the strangest mental image of his Father, King Kaname Kuran, writing scandalous and rude society gossip articles and posting them on the internet for all to see.

Okay.

So that theory was a _far_ stretch.

But if he ever found out who Suzi Biku was - Haruka felt like he would punch that wretched woman/man! But men do not hit women! So, if Suzi turned out to be a woman, Haruka won't be able to smack her! His mother would have been ashamed! But still! Haruka wondered if and when he finally found out who that vile witch was, he hoped his princely glare was strong enough that she would instantly melt or explode! Either option was great to Haruka!

Genji Ichijo sighed. "Haruka, you know how Suzi is. She is just trying to get hits."

Isamu Aido leaned back in his chair and then he rolled his hazel eyes. "Humph." He really had nothing to say. Hadn't they have this conversation before? However, he needed to tell Haruka something more important.

Honestly, he felt a little bit like a scumbag. Haruka had trusted him and he goes and tells his old man about it like a tattletale! But Isamu had thought his old man knew! His old man knew everything about the king, thus Isamu had thought it was okay. However, his slowly-becoming drunk father had quickly sobered up with the revelations and suddenly dashed out the human bar without a shred of concern for him.

Isamu sighed. "Haruka, I need to tell ya something."

Haruka's livid eyes landed on Isamu and Isamu nearly flinched. Perhaps he should have planned what he was going to say better? He sighed again. Ah well. Here is goes. "I told my old man about ya father's Doll. I think he is going to do something about it."

Haruka blinked. For a second he didn't understand what his friend was saying. "What?" Where in the world did Isamu's weird train of thought come from?

But Genji blinked. Then he tightly pressed his lips together. "Isamu!" His panicky looked around the hotel's restaurant to see if any nosey vampires could hear them. He didn't see any. Thank darkness! "Isamu, don't just say things like that for all to hear! That's suppose to be a secret!"

Isamu felt even worst. "I'm sorry, Har-Har." Isamu said. "I thought my old man knew, but he didn't when I told him earlier." But then Isamu brighten. "Perhaps my old man will tell your father to just get rid of the guy and thus you can have your family again?"

Haruka blinked again. But then he glared at his blond friend. "I don't want a family with a man like that." Despite the fact that he knew that Isamu only said that for him to feel better, Haruka felt insulted. His father was a bastard. An evil cruel bastard. His only relief about this entire situation was that now the entire world could get a small taste of his father's rottenness.

Father killed mother's true-love mate.

**Father should suffer.**

Father should suffer terribly for all the evil things he has ever done.

Yet something inside Haruka almost made him want to cry.

_"You have nothing to lose because of me, my dear son." Silver whispered to him tenderly. The tone of his deep voice was almost...fond. _

_Haruka was completely shocked by this unknown man's words that he couldn't pull away. __**My dear son**__. The three words were said so gently, so tenderly, and so loving, that Haruka wished to hear them again. _

_No one had ever said such a phase to him before. _

Haruka felt angry. He didn't want his father to get rid of Silver because Haruku knew what that _actually_ meant.

Father would 'get rid of Silver' by _killing_ him.

Just like mother's true-love mate, the late Mr. Zero Kiryu.

Haruka had no idea who this Zero Kiryu person was and what he was even like. But if mother had loved him like that then Haruka felt like he must have been a really nice person like Silver. Yes, perhaps Mr. Kiryu was someone like Mr. Silver. Nice, kind, fair...and..._and_...

Haruka was getting the feeling he was a really big idiot.

_"Prince Haruka." Silver noticed that he was looking at him. "I enjoyed your company yesterday." Silver then formed a teasing smirk on his lips. "Perhaps when we meet again, you can again show me more of your martial art skills." Silver lightly joked._

_Now it was Haruka's turn to become red. He really did not know what to say about that._

_"You have a talent with it." Silver said. And he held out his snow-white hand for a friendly manly handshake. "I hope to see your further improvement with it." Silver smiled at him, and Haruka realized that he __truly __was looking forward to meeting with him again._

Silver actually said and did nice things for him. Things an older brother or father would have done. Hell, Haruka knew he would have been extremely happy if Silver was his real dad or something. Despite the fact that Haruka had only met Silver so _briefly_, Haruka felt _more_ attached to him then he did with his own father who he had known for his entire life.

Isamu and Genji looked at each other.

Silence descend on all three young males.

The two friends knew that the rift between the King and Prince was only going to get worst...and they had no idea what to do about it.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Eight: Storm **

* * *

**Present**

The night was new again.

Silver Night silently stared at the various sights before him in front of his grand suite hotel window. His plum-gray eyes landed on the various neighborhood skyscrapers, thousands upon thousands of moving air hover automobiles, and the countless tubular sky bridges. Although it was getting dark, millions of people moved back and forth through this grand capital city of Japan. As a silent watcher of the beautiful urban dance, Silver saw the millions of different people living their million different lives in a busy blissfulness that Silver greatly envied.

And, for the first time in a very _long_ time, Silver felt incredibly naked and lonely.

The two small wounds on his neck were slowly healing now, as Silver lifelessly stared at the free human world outside. Perhaps before the night was over the two wounds would be completely healed and thus disappear. Last night's passion would soon be forgotten and Silver would have to start his plots all over again.

However, Silver felt so terribly lonely.

So empty. So lonely. So..._terribly sad._

Silver lightly touched the cold glass window panel. The smooth coldness of the clean glass lightly licked at the tips of his moonlight fingers.

Through the clear glass, Silver looked behind him at the beautiful grand hotel private suite of his Master's. It's bedroom was quite lovely in its own right, but it was nothing in comparison to his private chamber at the King's Private Palace within the Kuran Royal Palace Complex.

Distantly, Silver was quite pleased.

Nothing would compare to _Silver's Chamber_ in his master's mind, then.

His master would unconsciously feel it, and thus he would unconsciously yearn to return to that special place again. His place, their place. Silver designed and constructed his bedroom chamber for the very purpose of appealing to all of his master's tastes, preferences, and likes.

However, Silver's Chamber wasn't _Silver's_ per say. In all truth, that specially designed place was really his Master Kaname's. That room belonged to Master Kaname because everything in that room was based on his master's whims and wants. Nothing in that space was really there because Silver simply desired it. Everything – from the fine ornaments, luxurious linens, musical instruments, special scent oils, candles, etc. – was placed in that room because it would be something that his master liked.

Silver couldn't really think of one thing in that room that was truly there because _he_ simply _wanted_ it to be there.

Because in the end, Silver Night was a shadow person who had nothing.

He was one who had nothing and who was nothing in return.

He was just a lowly sex slave, after all.

Silver's thoughts were bleak.

_Master Kaname..._ Silver thought. _Master Kaname, you've been infected, haven't you?_

Despite the fact that Silver should have been elated with the revelation, something inside Silver was bleeding.

Bleeding. _Bleeding_. **Bleeding**.

_You have been poisoned, my master._

Silver felt his snow-white hands start to shake.

_You have just been poisoned by my false and diseased love. _

Silver felt his knees begin to tremble. His stomach twisted at his remembered promised words.

_My poisonous love will consume you. It will slither through your skin. It will infect your blood. It will contaminate your very bones_.

Silver felt his throat close up, and his tongue burned. The shaking in his limbs were uncontrollable now.

_My poisonous love will taint your mind, defile your soul, and ruin your heart. _

Silver felt his eyes become blurry, but he refused to cry. He refused to shred tears. So, he wouldn't cry. Because what was the point for his tears? What was the stupid reason for his tears?

No one has ever taken them away.

_You will cry out in agony. You will beg for release. _

However, because Silver couldn't cry, his plum-gray eyes continued to burn. Burn just like his half-heart. Just like his shadow soul.

_But the only cure, my master, is found only in me._

Silver realized that his Master Kaname was successfully contaminated by Silver's poisonous false love.

He should be _elated_.

Silver now had his hidden grip on his jailor's black heart. All that was left for Silver's Web of Seduction and Trap of Love to be complete was for his master to say those last three words of ultimate commitment to him.

His master had to tell Silver 'I Love You' - _**first**_.

Once that happened, and he said that - all of Silver's manipulative plots would finally be achieved.

So, why did Silver felt so totally empty?

"_This new master of yours tried it." The waxed self child darkly snarled. "Then I will make sure you never ever have the chance to form such a bond." _

Even if his master fell in love with him, Silver Night was still a Doll. And while Silver was far from being a willing one, he will forever be a mere slave, a pet, and something that could easily be thrown away.

Something about that fact made Silver... _vacant_.

He was a beautiful and mysterious, lovely and graceful, wonderful and captivating..._**slave**_.

And slaves do not get love.

Slaves get masters.

Masters, not lovers.

Something inside him felt bare. Ever since his creation, Silver barren life was always draining. However, Silver learned through his cunning and experience all the things that appealed to masters.

Masters were selfish. Masters were lonely. Masters have needs. Masters have unfilled wishes and dreams.

He was the dream that was fulfilled. The illusion found. The wish granted.

Silver Night was the Perfect Doll. He made himself become the ideal dream lover of _any_ master come to life.

But dreams are not real. Illusions do not guide reality. Wishes do not grant freedom.

Thus, Silver was the perfect illusion. A pure shadow man. An uncompleted being.

A lost soul.

And that really was all he would ever be, no?

Silver went through many, many masters. He had had so many, and each was a new nightmare in their own special ways. Some were dark. Others were cruel. Still others were old and lonely.

But only two masters did he ever have that he considered to be pure evil. Although those two masters – his two very first masters – were gone from his life, Silver always felt a vomiting dread whenever he remembered them.

It was such a darkly ironic fate.

He who could easily destroy lives, quickly shrink away from his beginning.

Those two masters were the ones that made him become the lost, broken, and wretched creature he was today. One was dead now, and the other's current whereabouts was unknown to him. However, even after all this time away from them, Silver greatly feared them and _still_ desperately hated.

His Master Of Fear, Kenichi Daisuki, and his late Master of Hate, Masashi Sukakasi.

He could hardly _breathe_. Without the slightest bit of warning, a dark memory flooded into Silver's empty mind.

"_One day...I will have you all to myself, my precious silver-haired nightingale." The scar-face man whispered in his ear as he lapped up the bright-red blood that poured out of his bleeding right cheek. "One day, you will forever be mine." Dirty hands inched across his bleeding chest. The long gashes had been created by that very same dirty hand only moments before. "And when that day comes – __**nothing**__ will tear us apart." _

The words of Master Kenichi Daisuki still haunted Silver til this very night.

"_And when that day comes – nothing will tear us apart." _

Silver was instantly _cold_.

**Kenichi Daisuki. **

If there was one thing Silver feared, it would be meeting _that_ man again. That man..._that_ man knew _everything_ about him. That man knew what he was truly like _before_. That man knew who his true self _was_. Thus, Silver's tricks, plots, and manipulations would never work on Kenichi, because Kenichi knew him _best_.

He had a hand in his creation, after all.

But despite his deep fear of that man, Silver knew with a terrible certainty that the vile Kenichi wasn't the one that finally _broke_ him in the end.

Broke him.

Despite all his pain, despite all his suffering, despite all his pleading and begging and dying...Silver still didn't know what finally broke him.

_For once in his empty existence, he hissed a second question. "A punishment for what?" He bitterly asked the waxed child self._

"_For breaking." __The waxed self said._

But why did his true self break? What did he break for?

The first emotional response that Silver Night has ever felt from his turn self was...

**HATE.**

_**It was a dark, raging, ferocious, uncontrollable, type of hatred. **_

Silver's mind wandered.

That scar-face man had been his cruel master of pain. Kenichi was his punisher. The one who always made him bleed if he ever dared to rebel, or if he committed a simple mistake.

The feeling of his dirty hands, his dry lips, his cruel empty lost eyes, his horrendous scar...

Silver's body trembled. However, Kenichi had never been allowed to have him – to take him to bed and...

Such a thought was just too horrifying for him to consider.

Yet even when Silver had been new, fresh, and blank, he had always known that vile man had deeply desired to claim him in fathomable dark ways.

The looks of dark blistering lust, the too-long lingering touches on his wounded cut-up flesh, the cold wet tongue that greedy licked up and healed his always bleeding wounds - Silver felt Kenichi's dark sexual desire for him at all times, with _every_ creepy touch, with _every_ steamy glance.

But fortunately, that vile man had never been allowed to satisfy such an intense and consuming dark desire.

It was _another_ that claimed that right.

The one called Master Masashi Sukakasi.

"_You are my perfect corruption. My filthy work of art." Masashi whispered in his bleeding ear with a blistering dark lust. His gigantic male organ was buried deep within him. Tearing him further apart. Blood flowed from his body like a raging river._

_He felt like screaming, but the pain was too far gone for something so simple like that. He could barely breathe. His body ached from hundreds of different past and present pains. _

_Someone...anyone...please...__**find**__...me...He desperately thought. Please...__**save me**__..._

_"Forever will you be my greatest contaminated creation, my wonderfully defiled Silver Night." _

_He felt like he was dying. Someone...anyone...__**help me**__...help me get away..._

_He was dying, dying, __**dying**__...and breaking, breaking, __**breaking**__...even __**further**__..._

"_You are finally prey who wishes to be devoured_." His first master, his creator, _his breaker_ said. _"I have made you prey who wishes to be devoured, Silver Night." The newborn Silver wanted to rebel. He wanted to fight. He wanted to flee. But...but...he had no one to turn to or call out for. Everything in his mind was blank. _

_Blank. Blank. __**Blank**__._

_He knew nothing but these two vile men. _

_And how can he call out for help when he didn't even know who, why, and what he was?_

Masashi Sukakasi was Silver Night's first true master. The one that had broke and created him.

He was the one that had painted Silver's soul _black_.

Darkness engulfed Silver's heart and mind at that moment.

Nothing has changed.

If Silver had his life in his hands, he thought he would have greatly enjoyed ripping apart the members of his wretched race. The dark creatures of the night. The inhabitants of the Nightfall World. If Silver could, he would wish to destroy them. _All of them._ Wipe them all off the face of this dying earth. All of them were wretched. All of them were cruel. All of them were selfish. All of them took and _took_ and **took**.

Nothing has changed.

And Master Kaname seemed no _different_.

The man had tried to form a love-bond with him, and perhaps Silver would have cemented the love-bond with his master. After all, that was probably the closest way he would get to be a true and completed person, wasn't it? If only for one moment, Silver would have _definitely_ cemented it.

If only he had known...if only he had known...he _would have_ _finalized their foolish bond._

And thus ensured his soon-coming death.

Because he was just so tired. So very, very tired. So very tired of fearing, of hating, of destroying, of causing and feeling so much pain.

_"It would be too...__cruel__...for you to form a bond, shadow self. It would be __too cruel.__"The third self looked at Silver with...strange pity. "And only the true self can form love bonds, shadow self. __Only the true self can__." The waxed self sighed again. He looked at the golden door quickly, and seemingly without thinking about it, the waxed self added, "And the true self does not desire to ever form a true love bond __ever __again."_

A small bright light was suddenly lit inside his soul in the face of the terrible darkness that continued to squeeze him.

Yet something inside Silver felt like it was coming alive.

He finally had a key to that golden door.

He finally had a key of sorts to forever solve this pitiful situation of his.

Silver had learned that he had once formed a true-love bond with someone in the past. His true self formed a true-love bond with one other _special_ person.

Someone out there, who he didn't know, was once his true-love mate.

Who was that special person? What was that precious person like?

_Protect her. _His true self once said.

_Silver laughed._

_His laugh was free and wildly childlike. He did not laugh like this for ages._

_Silver had a sudden realization that he was dealing with a very strange and rare creature._

_Before his very eyes, stood the wondrous, the innocent, and the blessed female air head._

_"You really are quite precious." Silver smiled at her. It was a true smile. Really, there was something refreshing about her honestly naive manner. Clearly, she had a bit of a young-love crush on him, if her mindless nervous babble was any indication._

_The young teen girl's face reddened completely. Yep, she definitely had an obvious crush on him._

Understanding suddenly engulfed him. Silver's plum-grey eyes snapped open, and his mind raced.

_Of course!_ The young princess! Princess Juri Kuran!

Princess Juri Kuran triggered his true self's presence within him more than anyone else ever had. Silver didn't know _why_ that was the case. His true self only stirred whenever Silver experienced a deep emotional crisis or when he was close to learning a valuable clue to his origins or was on the verge of death.

However, with Princess Juri, his true self seemed to positively respond to her.

Princess Juri was the critical _key_ to all of this.

_She is like the woman I failed._ His true self once said.

A thousand questions exploded in Silver's mind at that thought.

_How is she like the woman you failed, true one?_ Silver thought. _**Who**__ is the woman you failed?_

_A woman who was bright, trusting, and a fighter for her dreams. _Silver reflected. His mind was whirling for an answer._ Why did you fail her?_ Silver's pulses drummed. _How did you fail her? How did you fail the woman who was like Princess Juri Kuran? _

In the darkness of his mind and the deepness of his soul, Silver solemnly asked his true self his burning question. _True self...who was she?_ Silver desperately whispered to the hidden shadows and locked doors of his mind. _Who was she that you...I... __**we**__ failed?_

Silence twirled inside Silver for a chilling moment.

For one second, Silver thought his true self was not going to answer his desperate question. Just like he never truly answered him regardless of their shared misery, their shared pain, and their shared brokenness.

However, this time was different. This time his true self _finally_ responded to him.

It was not the answer that Silver had expected.

This sensation _scalded_ his breaking bones. This emotion _scorched_ his cracking mind. This feeling _charred_ his fracturing soul.

**HATE.**

_**It was a dark, raging, ferocious, uncontrollable, type of hatred. **_

Silver was brought to his knees. The emotional insanity of his true self's hatred burned Silver's sick heart like it was floating in the red sea of hell.

And just as suddenly as his answer had come, the feeling was suddenly gone.

Silver understood was hatred was. He knew what it felt like. He knew was it tasted like. All his life and throughout his existence, Silver had drunk from hatred's bitter cup.

Nearly all of his previous masters – _Silver hated._

The vampire world – _Silver hated. _

His poor life – _Silver hated._

**However...**

_But this flavor of hatred, true one. _Silver thought to himself in frightened discerning horror. _This dark hatred._ Silver's thoughts and instincts were coming to a dangerous conclusion. _This dark hatred of yours...doesn't seem to be aimed at anyone in particular. _

Silver did know why that was true – he just felt like it was. No, he _knew_ it was.

_This hatred isn't for me._ Silver thought. _Nor Kenichi. Nor Masashi. Or anyone else..._

This dark hatred of his true self almost seems like it was...

**Impossible. **

It felt like this dark hatred was aimed at...

**But it is not **_**logical**_**.**

_This dark-black hatred you have, true one, seems to be aimed at __**yourself**__, isn't it?_ Silver finally realized.

There was only word that could be asked now, but that word was horrifying.

Still that word had to be asked.

That one word was...

_Why? _

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** And so the tale deepens. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!


	60. Chapter 59 Hijackers

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Year Ago **

Out of the corners of his lavender eyes, Zero Kiryu observed a slow-moving sickly-looking female noble vampire approach him. Upon realizing who that girl was, Zero went back to clean up his prized Bloody Rose gun. His pet horse, Lily, snorted a bit at the approaching night-living girl, but when she saw that her human wasn't at all alarmed at the newcomer's presence, Lily the Horse put her head back down and went back to sleep.

Maria Kurenai looked at the busy silver-haired ex-human vampire hunter before her. Without a moment of hesitation, the long silver-gray haired girl sat quietly beside him and simply watched the young hunter continue with his task.

Zero Kiryu was a bit surprised by Kurenai's current behavior towards him of late. He knew that the young vampire noble had a relationship with his younger twin brother, Ichiru, and that she could sense Ichiru's essence inside him. Zero had a suspicion that Kurenai seemed to want to be around him more because of that, and, in a way, Zero was quite glad for it. At least, someone, other than him, remembered Ichiru fondly.

After a while, Maria looked at Zero and said. "You are a peculiar but agreeable person, Zero-kun." She said softly. Her feet neatly arranged in an Indian kneeling position.

Zero stared back at her and lightly frowned. What exactly was _that_ supposed to mean?

Maria gave him an odd light smile. "I find you to be a weird but very good person, Zero-kun." She said again. Then her eyes glowed with an unknown emotion. "How is it that you can..._forgive_... so easily, Zero-kun?"

Zero rapidly blinked. His surprise was evident on his face. "I don't forgive easily, Kurenai."

An unknown expression quickly raced across the young female vampire's face, and Zero felt like smacking himself. _Ah, he forgot_. She wanted him to use her given name when talking to her. Zero felt a little embarrassed. He was quite comfortable with addressing the vampire around him by their given names. In a fact, by referring to them by their last names, it help Zero to establish a good psychological distance from them. Because even after all this time, Zero wasn't complete comfortable with using their given names. After all, didn't that mean that he and them were..._similar_?

Even though he understood that he wasn't entirely human anymore, that didn't mean that he was ready to accept his other night-walking nature.

Still, she had asked him to use her given name and Zero _had_ said he _would do so_.

"I don't forgive so easily, _Maria_." Zero amended his previous sentence. He gave her a small smile and saw that she had become at ease again. "What brought on that statement, Maria?"

The quiet vampire blinked and then her purple eyes shadowed."Ichiru was your brother, but he was also the person that caused the murder of your beloved parents." She said.

Now it was Zero's turn to blink. "I know." Zero said softly. He put his gun down and leaned back against his sleeping pet horse. He looked at Maria to further prompt her strange thoughts.

Strangely, Maria met his questioning gaze head on. "But you visit his grave every year on the same day."

"I do." Zero admitted. These questions of hers were making him uncomfortable.

"Why?" The quiet vampire solemnly asked.

Zero was quite taken aback by her odd questions. However, he knew that Maria wasn't the type to just ask him questions without having a good reason. In truth, out of all the vampires he has met, Maria was someone he could respect and be kind to.

She strongly remained him of Ichiru.

Nevertheless, Zero decided to answer her question. "Hurt people hurt people."

Maria looked utterly confused at his answer, so Zero decided to explain further. "People typically hurt others when they are hurt themselves." Zero told her. "Ichiru was hurting and people do stupid things when they are hurting."

Maria tipped her confused head. "But why should you forgive just because the people who hurt you was hurting?"

Zero was taken back a bit by that statement as well, but then he slowly shook his head. "I don't forgive just because the person who hurt me was hurt." He said. "I forgive because sometimes _not_ doing so will hurt me _worst_ to _not to._"

A sudden thought then came into his mind. "My parents loved both Ichiru and I. They wouldn't want both of us to be fighting here or in the hereafter."

Maria scowled. Clearly she didn't like his answers. "You would just forgive for your parent's sakes?"

Zero shook his head in the negative. "No." He said. "I also loved my younger brother." He admitted."But he is gone forever from me now." He sighed. "I want to treasure his memories. And if I hate Ichiru, then I _can't_ love my memories of Ichiru."

Maria sighed. For some reason, Zero felt like the quiet girl vampire didn't like his weird thinking. "You are actually a big softy, aren't you, Zero-kun?"

Zero's right eyebrow twitched at that, but then Maria gave him an approving and admiring smile. "But it sort of explains why you are being so..._accepting_...of Kaname Kuran though."

Zero's left eyebrow twitched and he frowned deeply at her. "You're the _second_ person that told me that." Then he heavily sighed. "Kuran is still just a lonely little prick, so I got to be..._civil_...to him for now on."

Maria stared at him in disbelief. Really, he could still insult such a powerful person so easily? Where in the world did Zero get his gall? She wanted to purchase some of it!

Zero shrugged his shoulders and continued. "Yuki chose me and I chose Yuki." He said. "However, because of that - Kuran is going to be alone by himself." Zero looked at a few distance trees. "He's _always_ alone, and loneliness is a terrible thing."

Maria cocked her head to the side. "He might do something terrible, you know." Maria lightly suggested.

At that, Zero shrugged his shoulders again. "You're not alone. Even _I_ thought that Kuran would have done something to me already by now." Zero cracked an ironic grin. "He _does_ seem like the type of selfish jerk who would plot something terrible if something didn't go his way."

Mara nodded her agreement.

"But..." And here Zero paused himself. "But...he _accepted_ Yuki's choice for me."

And _that_ was what really made Zero finally decide to start trusting Kuran.

Yuki had told him that when she had revealed her true feelings for him to Kuran first, Kuran had told her that he understood, and that she should 'Go to him, Yuki.' Yuki promptly did so and confessed her true feelings to the recovering him.

Nevertheless, Kuran told her _to go to him_.

Zero's level of respect for Kuran increased a hundred folds because of it.

Zero had always been suspicious of Kuran. The guy embodied everything he hated and disliked about vampires. Vampires were powerful selfish stealers of lives, and they loved to oppress the weak and powerless. They knew not kindness and empathy because their world had no such words. Kuran's actions always seemed so selfish and brutal and Zero hadn't liked him at all.

But the fact that Kuran was willing to sacrifice _his_ feelings for _Yuki's sake_ changed all that.

Zero had been prepared for the day when Yuki finally chose Kuran over him and left his life. Zero had known and believed that day was soon to come. The world knew it. His peers knew it. He knew it. And many believed he was a fool for still holding her in his heart despite that well-known fact.

However, Zero Kiryu wasn't like most people.

Zero Kiryu was a man who loved in spite of himself because he didn't view love like most people did.

Zero Kiryu was a man who believed that love was a _code_ and not just an emotion.

If you love something, then you love something. It didn't matter to him if he was loved in returned. Love was something you put into practice and expressed with your actions. Love was something that you protected. Love was something that you upheld. If a person just loved another just to get something in return, could you really call that love?

Zero didn't think so.

So, he continued to love Yuki, even though he believed that she would be taken from him one day.

But Yuki _returned_ his feelings.

Yuki _returned_ his feelings and was _in_ love _with him._

Zero had been so surprised by _that_ development, that even to this day, he was in joyous disbelief about it.

Nevertheless, Zero had known of Kuran's feelings for Yuki, and that was probably why Zero grudgingly accepted the fact that he would probably lose her to him. If it had been any other person, Zero wouldn't have been _quite_ as accepting. But because it Kuran, Zero allowed it. After all, Kuran would be able to best protect her and provide for her, and that's all that Zero really wanted. He just wanted Yuki to be happy forever with or without him.

Yet the fact that Kuran was the same as him – that is, Kuran was the type of person to sacrifice his heart for the happiness of a person he cared for – completely changed Zero's opinion on him.

With that radical new understanding, Zero decided to learn more about the oddly lonely yet crazily powerful pureblood vampire man who was soon to be his brother-in-law.

Second chances and all that – _right_?

"Kuran is a strange and terrible man, but at the end of the day, he is easy to understand, I guess." Zero told the surprised Maria. "Kaname and I are somewhat..._similar_, so that's why I understand him... _somewhat_." He hedged, but then Zero smirked. "But I've got a long way to go in figuring that crazy guy out."

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Nine: Hijackers **

* * *

**Present **

Hanabusa Aido was most disturbed.

According to his favorite son, Isamu Aido, Kamane-sama had a Doll.

A _Doll_...

A _Doll_ that was a _man_...

A _Doll_ that was a _man_ called _Silver Night_.

Of all the things that could go wrong!

Hanabusa felt like he was had stepped in bizarro land.

Never mind the fact that Hanabusa had just learned the incredible fact that Kaname-sama's sexuality could bend both ways, to Hanabusa the most terrible thing about this entire situation was that the Doll in question was _the_ Silver Night, _himself_.

Even _Hanabusa Aido_ heard all the high tales of the Notorious Number One Doll of All Times, Silver Night.

This was _bad_.

_**No**_, this was _totally bad._

Hanabusa despised the whole notion of Dolls and those who had them. It wasn't because he was noble in character (Ha!), but even _he_ knew that such things were wrong and evil and thus shouldn't be done. Vampires that had Dolls were _pathetic_ to someone like Hanabusa. If one couldn't get a person on their own merits, then they should just jump of the nearest cliff to end their personal misery. Why bring others down just because you're a weak idiot?

Still, in the lower levels of the Far Eastern Court, the stories that involved Silver Night was a common subject of conversation. He was something of a vampire legend, and some of the stories told about him were completely out of this world! Hanabusa believed half the things said about the guy were bald face lies, but it would be hard to prove that they were. A lot of the stories affected the court and kingdom in a variety of odd ways.

Silver Night, The Doll of Desire. Silver Night, The Moonlight Siren. Silver Night, The King of Pleasure. Silver Night, The Master of Love.

_Silver Night – The Harbinger of Dream's Destruction. _

If there was one thing Hanabusa knew to do, it was _damage control_. With the events of Kaname-sama's and Yuki-chan's impeding second court divorce trial session, if the fact that Kaname-sama was now the new master of _the_ Silver Night, the kingdom would be thrown into a state of _panic_.

No master survived pass 24 months when they obtained the Notorious Silver Night.

_**None**_.

By darkness, Hanabusa needed to see and tell Takuma about this immediately. Only he could figure out what best to do in this terrible situation.

* * *

The Notorious Writer and Owner of _The Court_ Vampire Blog, Suzi Biku, who was in actuality Maria Kurenai, sighed darkly to herself.

At her computer screen, she saw that the latest blog article she had just put up about the Far Eastern Royals and their divorce three hours ago had already gotten over one million hits and over a thousand comments. A good number of her readers agreed with her positions and feelings, while a great many other of her subscribers were calling her the dirtiest of names that they could. The two sides were irrupting into a flaming comment section war, and Maria knew that soon she would have to close down that blog article's comment section if she wanted to save her email inbox from overflowing with stupidity.

Although Maria had vented her emotions well after posting up such an article, one feeling remained deep inside her sick and weary heart. Maria was not surprised that this emotion was still there. This emotion was always there. It was always in her heart and never left her for a moment. It was there when she went to sleep, and it was there when she woke up. It was there when she ate tasteless soup, and it was there when she wheeled herself around her empty apartment home in her electronic wheelchair. This emotion pretty much defined Maria Kurenai's entire existence.

This emotion was _bitterness_.

Maria Kurenai tasted and ate bitterness daily. It flowed from her heart, danced on her ruby tongue, and slowly poisoned her dying body every single day of her sickly life.

Maria Kurenai was _bitter_.

She was extremely bitter against the entire Nightfall World.

As a low level sickly noble vampire, Maria Kurenai was forced to know her place in her dark world very early on. She was always seen as a piteous creature. A night creature that was just like a weak human. She was a pitiful being that needed assistance and continuous care. She was a creature that was helpless as well as useless. Her peers disregarded her on a daily basis, and whenever anyone decided to take a brief moment of their busy lives to simply _look_ at her – all they did was _pity her_.

Pity her. _Pity her._ **Pity her.**

Poor, _poor_ Maria. Poor, poor _sickly_ girl. How tragic she is. _How terrible tragic she is._

Pity. _Pity_. **Pity**.

Thus was it really a surprise that Maria was so _bitter_?

No one ever took the time to just look at her. No one ever took the time to see her as she really was. No one ever saw who she really was or took the time to learn what she truly wanted.

No one did.

Maria closed her purple eyes and sighed darkly to herself.

What she had just thought was a great lie.

_Two people_ saw her. Two people had understood her and looked at her best, but...

But both of them were now dead.

For a moment, the bitterness inside Maria was overshadowed by her heartache.

_The Kiryu Brothers. _

The Kiryu Brothers – both the elder and the younger – both had _seen_ her and _saw who she really was_. Both were so _similar_, yet so mind-blowingly different. Both had lived their lives with a passion and resolve that their memories had burned themselves into her memory's history.

And she lost _both._

Bitterness gnawed at her heart like a glutton worm.

Ichiru Kiryu was just like her. He was the sickly and worthless hunter, and she was the sickly and worthless vampire. Ichiru was a conflicted and complicated person. Maria was a conflicted and complicated person. Both of them cared for and destroyed their precious things, and both were too scared to fight for what they loved.

Ichiru Kiryu was her first crush because Ichiru was just like her. Some would say it was a form of sick egotism, but Maria had first liked Ichiru because he was the first person who was exactly like herself and in the same situation as herself.

But he obviously loved her relative, Shizuka Hio, and thus Maria had kept her feelings to herself.

When he had died, Maria was so bitter, so angry, and so hurt that she could hardly see. Her strong emotions had made her into a living sick corpse that was locked up in her family's home for weeks.

However, then she remembered Zero Kiryu, and her world became _bright_ again.

While the young Ichiru Kiryu had been her first crush, Maria had _deeply_ loved Zero Kiryu.

Perhaps when Zero had absorbed Ichiru's life essence the feelings she had for Ichiru had been transferred to the older twin Zero. However, Maria didn't think her feelings were so simple. No. Her feelings were never so simple. Maria Kurenai was a complicated creature.

Yet, she didn't know when her feelings first started.

_Zero Kiryu. _

She loved him in silence.

Zero was like her, but _not at all like her. _

Zero desperately loved, urgently protected, and passionately fought.

Zero was like a controlled storm of life and energy and passion. Zero was the type of person that could desperately love something that he knew he could not have, but even if he believed he could never have what he so dearly loved, he still gently cared and quietly protected his desperate love. Zero wasn't the type of person that loved because he knew he would get love in return. No. Zero loved and protected because that was central to his core being.

Maria loved Zero Kiryu _terribly_ because of that.

However, Zero Kiryu only loved _Yuki Cross-Kuran._

Maria's lackluster purple eyes flashed. The worm of bitterness had suddenly transformed itself into a venomous snake, and it sank its fangs deep into her sick heart.

By darkness, she utterly _hated_ that stupid slut Yuki.

Maria refused to call that slut her queen. That stupid bitch didn't deserve such an honorary acknowledgement.

While Maria knew she had no right to feel this way, the inherent spite she felt towards the pureblood female ruler had only grown throughout the many long years and decades of her piteous and sick existence.

By all that is dark – Maria _hated_ Yuki.

She hated her with a fiery hate that was continuously fueled by her eternal bitterness.

Maria believed that Yuki's naive stupidity and young selfishness caused the demise of Zero Kiryu.

Zero Kiryu was a _very_ caring and gentle man. Maria saw, Ichiru had spoken about, and even Shizuka Hio had remarked on that man's extraordinary ability for love, gentleness, protectiveness, and forgiveness.

Nonetheless, she _knew_ that Zero had deeply loved Yuki. He loved her like a _fool_. He loved her _despite_ himself. He loved her even when everything around him was pointing out the fact that Yuki would end up with Kaname and be with _him_ forever.

But Zero still loved her all the same.

And Maria hated Yuki because of it.

Maria knew that Yuki never knew of her hatred for her. Maria was the perfect actor. The perfect little sick and piteous side actor of her life. Even so, behind Maria's calm voice, slow smile, and typical obedience, Maria hated Yuki with every fiber of her being because she didn't believe that woman deserved Zero Kiryu's loyal love.

When Yuki stupidly ran after Kaname like a love sick fool and didn't see Zero's lonely and pained expressions – Maria hated her.

When Yuki chose Kaname, time after time after time again, and left Zero all alone – Maria hated her.

When Yuki carelessly didn't see Zero's kind and tender regard for her – Maria hated her.

What gave _her_ the _right_ to treat Zero like that, huh? What gave _her_ the right?

And Zero had just accepted it!

He just accepted it because Yuki was someone he loved and Zero was the type of person to forgive a person of their sins because of it!

Maria prayed and wished for Yuki and Kaname to simply get together faster. She wanted that blasted stupid clueless woman out of Zero's life forever. And once she was gone – _then_ Maria believed she could have taken her place inside Zero's loyal heart.

So, Maria waited. She waited, _waited_, _**waited**_, because she believed that once Yuki and Kaname had gone off to whatever the hell their lives were to be, Zero would _only_ have _her_ left. Zero had no one else, after all. His parents were gone, his brother was inside him, and he lived between the enemy worlds of vampire and hunter – predator and protector. Therefore, Maria knew that if she waited, once Yuki and Kaname had gone out of their lives, she could finally take Zero for herself. If she was all that Zero had left, Maria believed that Zero would then grow to love _her,_ and then they would live a quiet and peaceful life together until their time lasted.

But then that worthless _bitch_ chose Zero.

Maria had been so shocked by the development that she had been ill for weeks.

But her shock _morphed_ into a dark rage.

The only other person that she believed felt her twisted emotions of pure shock and deep rage at _that_ startling development was _Kaname Kuran._

Maria had respected Kaname and she had felt a deep twin sympathy for Kaname, as well as herself, when those two got together.

The man was similar to her in the fact that they were ones who had _nothing_ despite being surrounded by so much. Kaname always seemed to be by himself in the face of being surrounded by all his followers and subjects. There was a distance to him that Maria could understand. Because she was like him in that regard. Both she and Kaname mastered the art of being alone in a crowded room. Both she and Kaname focused on having that _one_ special treasure. Both she and Kaname did not let go even if what they were holding on to was poisoning their hearts and souls.

But while Kaname could help his most despise foe; she could not.

Maria had wordlessly separated herself from the happy couple because she could not take it.

The bitterness that had grown inside her was too strong for her to pretend to be happy for Zero, but because Maria couldn't fight for what she most wanted, she felt like the best thing she could have done for him, the best way she could demonstrate her deep love for Zero was to...leave him alone.

And she had. She left him to Yuki and hoped that stupid girl could make him happy.

But when she found out that Zero was _murdered_... the hate Maria had for Yuki ran _so_ deep that she made herself terminally sick.

That worthless woman couldn't even protect him.

And after she _lost_ Zero, Yuki went _crawling_ back to Kaname like left-over seconds.

By darkness, Maria's unspoken and unseen hate for her grew to such deadly proportions once she learned of it. Yuki should have just stuck to Kaname from the beginning. She should have just stuck with him and have _left_ Zero alone. If that stupid girl had done that, Zero would have been alive today and with her.

Maria started her blog _The Court_ as a way to vent her frustrations and hate against Yuki and all those _like_ her.

All those people who had power, who were healthy, who had dreams, who had things they didn't truly treasure with all their hearts – Maria, through the power of her Bird's Eye, revealed all their dirty secrets, all their crimes, and all their woes.

But now, Maria had learned that _Kaname_ had been behind Zero's murder.

In one of the rare times of being alone together, Zero had once told her that Kaname was a lonely asshole which needed to hear a tender word here and there. Maria had raised a curious eyebrow at his words, but Zero had simply shrugged his shoulders and said 'It was a guy thing'.

The relationship between Zero and Kaname changed somewhat during their new battle against the renewed Rido Kuran. Zero's abilities as a vampire hunter had phenomenally grown, and Zero and Kaname had developed a trusting working relationship. They still gave each other suspicious gazes from time to time, but because Kaname had believed Zero wasn't a threat to his relationship to Yuki and because Zero had believed that Yuki would eventually choose Kaname over him, they had developed a grudging workable relationship. Zero would narrow his eyes whenever he believed Kaname got out of line with Yuki, but he never tried to really interfere with their relationship.

But all that changed during Zero's and Yuki's wedding preparation.

Strangely, Zero tried to reach out to Kaname. Maria knew Kaname would have never done the same for him if he had he won Yuki's heart, but Zero was the type of person to feel _sorry_ for his fallen rivals.

In spite of everything, hate was something that wasn't really natural to Zero's core nature. Zero did indeed bitterly hate Shizuka Hio after what the woman did to rip apart his family, but after he had learned of her fate and existence, Zero had wearily 'forgiven' her if only for Ichiru's sakes.

Ichiru had one told her that his older brother was the type to forgive and not forget, while he was the type to never forgive and always forgot.

However, perpetual hatred was like a deadly poison for Zero's natural self.

Zero's hatred towards Shizuka was like an ironic treacherous double-edged sword. After all, while Zero's hatred for the pureblood woman gave him a reason to exist (i.e. to get revenge for his love ones), for a person like Zero, whose core nature was to protect, love, and cherish, to live a life full of hatred would eventually destroy him.

Zero Kiryu wasn't a man who could survive on hating others.

That wasn't to say that he was the type of forgive willy-nilly and any old way. If one thing could be said about the ex-human hunter was that the man could hold a grudge like a secret treasure. However, Zero's ability to pardon was something that Maria had admired _and_ damned.

Just look at how he _accepted_ Yuki's foolishness.

But the person that had ended his life wasn't Yuki or some vampire bigots...

The person that had ended his life was _Kaname Kuran._

But for some reason, her hatred _for_ Yuki _didn't_ dim.

It intensified.

And it intensified to now include Kaname as well.

But as the dreaded writer 'Suzi Biku', she couldn't just change her tone after all the revelations. It had made her sick to her stomach to write those anticipated nice things about Kaname.

So, Maria would quietly wait. She would continue with her silent hate. She would continue with her self-destructive ways.

Because one day she would find a way to make them – both Yuki and Kaname - suffer.

**Terribly**.

* * *

_**Two Hours Later...**_

Through the use of her pigeon familiars and with her newest cell phone in her hand, Sosono saw all the pieces and pawns of her plans get set into their places.

Sosono smiled.

Like a conductor playing the last act of a concerto orchestra, she gave all her pawn pieces and enemies one last look over.

The King was in his makeshift office looking at a few papers in his Red Wing Building of the Imperial.

The Queen was in her private hotel suite drafting an unseen document in her White Wing Building.

The Prince was with his two friends in one of the hotel's restaurant.

The Princess was getting baked goods near the hotel's cafe.

The sun was far gone from the sky, and a bloody moon was in its place.

Sosono dialed the number to Goog Song's cell phone and when she heard him pick up, she only had one word for him.

"Begin." Sosono's black eyes flashed a cruel crimson.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** He he! Thought I forgot about Maria, eh? XD Anyway, to answer a review question I got: Yes, Kaname's back-story will be featured in this fic, I believe (However, that is _far_ into the future). This love triangle I got between Kaname-Zero-Yuki isn't going to be so easily solved, I'm afraid. XD I love conflict and complications! And I love all three of them! :D (Just not all three of them _together_ – I'm still anti-threesome. I can't really accept it for this tale, sorry! 0.0') Only _one_ will get Zero!

However, the upcoming head-to-head war between Kaname and Yuki _for_ Zero is THE final arc of this fic, I believe. So once everything is out in the open (which will be..._relatively_ soon...I _think_...XD), my greatest plot twists will be unleashed in that arc. Not that the up-coming kidnapping arc won't have its various surprises and turns, though. X3 Ah, story-telling! I think I write and think too much! *_*

Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long (and many ;D) – I love them all!


	61. Chapter 60 Plots

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

Rima Touya, The Queen's Left Arm and Ms. Bitch Lawyer Mastermind, looked at her pureblood queen friend and client with diaphanous incredulity.

"Are you..._serious_...Yuki?" She asked in chocking disbelief. Her icy blue eyes were widened with shock.

What Yuki was _telling_ her...what Yuki was _suggesting_...what Yuki was _planning_ on _doing_...

This new plot of hers was _monstrous_.

The two women were in the Queen's temporary hotel office located on the second top floor of the Queen's White Wing Building of The Imperial. Rima had been terribly glad that Yuki had allowed her to see her after such a terrible first court loss. Rima felt so bad, but _now_ she felt even _worst_.

If they had won that first world better, Rima knew Yuki would not be planning to do something so monstrous now.

Of course, 'mentally', Rima knew that what Yuki was plotting would give them a better chance of winning in the Second Judgment Act of this divorce, _but_...but Yuki would _destroy_ her heart even more because of it.

Rima felt terribly twisted.

She wanted to damn her pride, but the bitchy lawyer had truly believed that their initial plan had been rock solid. It's just that she never thought that snake bastard king would use such terrible tactics against his supposed dearly loved wife. Apparently, the love that Kaname had for Yuki was greatly exaggerated, because what husband could claim to love his wife so dearly but then turn around and rip her reputation and heart to shreds in public like that?

Well, Kaname Kuran was always a warped and perplexing man.

She was sure the snake king could rationalize it. Somehow.

He always did.

Still, the evidence that Kaname had murdered Zero was the best they had against them. And with the Vampire Queen of Central and Southern Africa, Queen Biashara Bimnono, moderating and judging this entire affair, they would be able to confirm the fact that Kaname had plotted to kidnap and murder Yuki's true-love mate. Queen Bimnono had many powers, and some of them were quite unusual. Like most purebloods, she could influence and break into people's minds. However, what made her powers so unique was the fact that Queen Bimnono could distinguish which memories were true and which memories were false.

When Yuki had drunk Kaname's blood to save herself after the previous assassination attempt, the confused and panicky events had caused Kaname's usual iron-walled mind to be surprisingly left open. Kaname had been in such a conflicted emotional state that his mental defensives weren't in place like they usually were whenever she drank from him.

That sole luckless event was the start of all this.

Yet, that event also highlighted just how..._muddled_...Kaname's and Yuki's connection to each other was.

Even in the most intimate of vampire acts – the giving of one's blood, _the giving of one's life source_ – Kaname was generally always so..._distant_..._apart_...and _odd _to her. His mental walls were so high that if they were physical, they would reach the heavens and the center of the earth.

In spite of that distance and in a very strange way - Yuki did not really mind Kaname's tough mental distance.

She had always kept part of herself back from him _as well. _

Yuki's mental walls were equally high and equally thick.

Even to this day, Yuki desperately still missed her true-love mate. Even now, their ripped apart bond throbbed inside her aching heart day after _day_ after _**day**_, and Yuki had _never_ wanted Kaname to know that she _still_ terribly missed Zero. She didn't want to _hurt_ _him _with that uncontrollable knowledge. So, she kept some of herself back as well whenever the exchanged blood.

That was why they could never have true-love bond with each other.

Both, regardless of the reason, never fully truly gave of themselves to each other during those rare events.

And even when they shared blood, even though it always brought husband and wife _somewhat_ closer together and _sometimes_ the display of feelings between them would satisfy her for a _moment_ – it also remained Yuki _terribly_ of her time with _Zero_.

Yuki felt like her emotions were _spiraling_...

_Her time with Zero_... _was_..._a time that seemed like __**so**__ long ago._

It had been a once upon a time world.

It had been a time where a pure and innocent girl loved a silver-haired knight.

A time where Zero and Yuki freely offered themselves to each other in the young energetic bliss of new-old love.

A time where the scents of rich sandalwood and calm lavender, bright white tea and fresh ginger mingled their perfume in the cool night air.

A time where a young and innocent girl with short brown hair and bright dark-brown eyes looked softly at a young boy with short silver hair and softly glowing pure lavender eyes clashed against each other together in a warm small bed so long, long ago.

A time where -

Yuki closed her eyes and stopped her spiraling thoughts.

_Stop, Yuki. Just, stop._ She told herself. _Those types of thoughts...will cause your madness again._

**Stop. Now.**

Yuki took a deep small breath to calm herself.

Those particular scents so long ago always made her ill whenever she smelt them now. While the scent of sandalwood or lavender always made her cry whenever she had the misfortunate to smell them by accident (like when she went to a high-society event and smelt a similar perfume scent on one of the guests), Yuki utterly hated _her_ natural fragrance.

The heady scent of a _powerless_ _fool_ who lost everything because of her stupidity.

It was _why_ she always drenched herself with high-class perfume whenever she was awake. Just like what she did with her make up – both things helped her to never _ever_ again see that old, useless, and stupid girl from the past come back alive again.

She was the Pureblood Vampire Queen of the Far Eastern Realm, now.

Yuki reopened her dark-brown eyes. Her oddly spiral emotions steadied themselves.

_I am a Pureblood Vampire Queen._ Yuki chanted to herself. _I am a Pureblood Vampire Queen._

She was not powerless. There are things she could do.

Never would she ever be a stupidly pure and innocent girl again.

There were no more knights, after all.

And Yuki felt her heart become cold like winter's first ice.

Queen Yuki Kuran leveled her brunette legal representative with a firm look. " I am serious. Kenichi Daisuki is the best witness I have against Kaname's lies and accusations against me, Rima." She answered firmly.

When Yuki had been near death's door a year ago, she had drunk her husband's blood to save herself. However, she had thoughtless removed what she thought were enemy memory blocked spells on her husband. Yuki had thought she was doing him a favor, but the awful truth was revealed in such a out of the ordinary way.

Apparently, Kaname had _blocked_ those memories of his _himself_.

And that must have been the reason for his always-there high mental walls.

With Queen Bimono here, Yuki knew the fair woman would _verify_ whether her memory was true. But that couldn't be done until after her psychiatric evaluation proved that she was in her right and stable mind.

Still, Kaname's tactics had ensured that the public at large wouldn't be so quick to move to her side because of this stain.

Yuki needed something else - another piece of vital evidence for Kaname's crimes.

That was why she was doing this..._monstrous_ plan.

But Rima felt like she was on the verge of fainting. Yuki couldn't be serious! She couldn't! Zero would have _never_ wanted her to do something like this for him! This was going to destroy her friend!

The brunette lawyer tried to reason with her queen. "That man won't do this if you don't offer him a deal, Yuki!" Rima pleaded. "And the only deal that could satisfy a person trapped in Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island is a _pardoned freedom."_

Yuki's dark-brown eyes were so cold that ice would have been envious of them. "As the Queen Vampire of the Far East," Yuki said, "I can give him that."

Rima's spine tingled with cold horror.

_She was serious._ She was _actually_ serious about this.

Rima _needed_ to stop her, but it felt like she was trying to stop a bullet air-train with a spider's web.

"That's not the point, Yuki!" Rima said again. "The men and women who go to SSVPI are some of the vilest creatures the Nightfall world has to offer!" Rima pointed out. "And the security prevents all those that get in there from ever getting off that Island alive! So, you can't just break in there and take out a prisoner!"

"I can and I will, Rima." Yuki ignored her concern. "You and I both know this is the only way we can win this divorce case against Kaname. It's not just the moderating judge we have to convince now." Yuki's dark-brown eyes were arctic. "At least, least Queen Bimono saw that Kaname and I could never be together again and allowed this to move on to the second act."

Rima knew her friend and queen was right. They were damn lucky Queen Bimono was fair and just in this decision to allow this divorce case to continue. Had it been any other judge, their inherent bias against ex-humans and mad vampires would have caused them to immediately throw out the case in Kaname's favor.

A pureblood vampire woman love bonded herself to an ex-human vampire and a fellow pureblood vampire man, her brother and current husband no less, had decided to kill the ex-human.

What exactly was the problem, really?

The woman was obviously insanely stupid or stupidly insane. The man _clearly_ was looking out for her best interests. So why this troublesome issue? For two pureblood rulers to divorce over the death of a mere ex-human was foolishness.

The case would have been immediately thrown out on the spot.

Thank darkness, for Queen Bimnono! Yes, indeed.

But Rima pressed her lips tightly together. The inherent bigotry and elitism of the vampire aristocracy were a terrible second enemy they had to face now. While she was sure Queen Bimnono would judge as fairly as best she could, that couldn't be said about the Jury of 40 that also needed to be present during the second act of this divorce.

So, _really_, Yuki and Rima needed some new _overwhelming_ evidence to defeat Kaname.

But Rima didn't want it if it had to be gotten this way.

"But Yuki..." Rima quietly said. Her voice trembled. "He isn't just any _prisoner_." She looked her dead in the eyes. Icy blue eyes met lifeless dark-brown orbs. So similar were those eyes to the snake who started all this. "He is _also_ the man who_ helped kill your Zero_." Rima's pale hand itched to hold her friend's frozen hands, but she stopped herself.

"Yuki," Rima asked with terrible... _pity_. "Can you really offer _freedom_ to the _man _who_ killed your true love?"_

* * *

**Chapter Sixty: Plots**

* * *

**Present **

Princess Juri Kuran looked at the few pastries that the Imperial Hotel's cafe had in their display cases. Chocolate cake, carrot cake, oatmeal pie, donuts, and muffins were all that they currently had.

The young teen girl frown.

What type of sweets did Silver like anyway?

Juri's frown deepened even more.

By darkness! She was _so_ stupid, sometimes! How could she not know what her fiancee's favorite sweets were?

Her papa liked muffins, and Haruka liked pocky (though he would pretend to hold up his nose at the treat whenever she brought him some). Strangely, her mama liked oatmeal cakes, and Juri would eat anything that had sugar on it! (It was a wonder she didn't have diabetes!)

But what type of sweets did her Silver like anyway?

Silver didn't seem like a muffin person or someone who like handy snacks. Maybe he liked donuts?

Juri frown a third time. _No!_ Silver was too perfect to like the lowly, evil, and tasty donuts!

"Ah-hem." The worker behind the sweet display case loudly coughed. The old woman gave her a shady and stinky look!

Juri frowned a fourth time. _Wow_. The treatment she received whenever she disguised herself always threw her for a loop, sometimes. Fake, fake people! Fake, _fake_! People shouldn't act so different with each other! They should be the same for all types of people!

Juri covered her long black-dyed hair with a blond wig and hat. She was also wearing thick geeky glasses and a long thick shapeless coat. Juri didn't want to cause a scene when all she wanted to do was get some sweets for Silver so that they could eat them while they talked!

Sometimes, being a princess was _so_ annoying! She could never do the simple things normal people took for granted!

"I would like one of _each_, please." Juri told the old worker. The old woman shook her head and rolled her eyes, but got out her white paper bags to fulfill the order.

Juri frowned a fifth time. Maybe the old lady was going through her 'private summer' eh? Why was she so mean? Juri wasn't an annoying crybaby or something!

Well, Juri knew that a lot of people did think she was a big crybaby. But Juri didn't see why that was the case! She just didn't like hiding her true feelings and emotions. And just because Juri could cry for people to see didn't mean she was weak!

Juri was a Pureblood Princess of the Kuran Clan, after all!

And with a father like Papa, and a mother like Mama, Juri and Haruka learned from an early age on how to _defend_ themselves! Sure, they were still young and had much to learn in order to develop their pureblood powers fully, but they at least knew the basics!

Well, Juri _knew_ the basics. Haruka was kind of like a genius with his fighting skills. People always talked about Haruka's combat skills. _Always_. That was one thing they didn't talk badly about him about. Haruka could give a punch that was terrible, sometimes. Haruka was a good fighter! However, all the gossipers of court would still bemoan the fact that Haruka was too kind to worthless low-class people sometimes.

The Prince wasn't at all like their dear King – how terrible for the kingdom!

Bah!

Juri disagreed with that!

Papa was Papa. Haruka was Haruka. They should just be themselves! Juri believed.

And Haruka's weirdly kind nature (weird because Haruka was never really 'kind' to her, but then she was _his sister_) was one of the things Juri loved most about Haruka. Haruka may pretend to be a big old jerk, but deep down inside - he was a regular teddy bear!

Oooh, she probably should call him _that_ the next time he was _mean_ to her! Stupid Teddy Bear Haruka! Stupid Teddy Bear Boy! That would be _sure_ to _boil_ his meanie self's blood!

Ha! Juri filed that thought away for future use!

"Just because a flower decides to hide itself, doesn't mean others can see it." A foreign and young male voice suddenly revealed itself near Juri's left ear.

Juri _jumped_.

Holding her heart, she quickly turned around and stared at the person who dared to do that to her!

Gook Song, The Vampire Heir of the Korean Pureblood Clan of Song, smirked at her.

Juri was bewildered.

Speaking of annoying people! This was the last person she wanted to see right now!

Gook gave her what he probably thought was a handsome smirk.

Juri rolled her dark-brown eyes. _Oh, boy_. She does not have time for him right now!

Gook was such a good-for-nothing player! She knew he liked her, but that was posh! He was like Gaston from that old Disney's Beauty and the Beast movie! Always peering himself like a peacock and always talking about his wonderfulness and greatness and how she would be so lucky to land a guy like him!

Ha!

Juri could see a player a mile away. And Juri Kuran didn't like players!

Also, Gook was _very_ mean to Haruka. And Juri definitely didn't like that either! Haruka was a stuck-in-the-mud, but no one was allowed to say mean things about her little brother on _her_ watch and in _her_ presence!

"Here you go, miss." The old woman in the cafe irritably said. Juri whipped back around, paid for it, and picked up her two large white paper bags that were nearly bursting with sweets.

The young Gook smirked.

This was his chance!

Sosono had just given him the order to begin. The needle poison was right at his fingertips. Once he jabbed her with it, the poison would quickly take effect and critical weaken her for the next few hours. Therefore, he needed to get her away from such a public space. It would do him no good if Juri collapse in public! He couldn't cause a scene!

"I can help you with that, princess." Gook deceivably suggested. He held out his hands as an offer for help.

Juri would have none of it! She saw the trick a mile away! And she didn't want to deal with a Gaston-wannabe right now!

"Leave me alone, Gook!" Juri hissed. "I'm going to see my _fiancée_ now!" She blew right past him. Her baked goods tightly held in her hands.

_**Fiancée? **_

Gook rapidly blinked his black eyes. His shock at her words overwhelmed him for a small moment.

_Princess Juri had a fiancée?_

**Since when? **

Gook had no answers, and he stared at the princess as she raced towards the busy elevators.

Wait a second!

Did he just lose his chance?

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

As if he was declaring war on his business paperwork, Kaname's mind, fingers, and pen ripped through each critical document with a terrible ease that would make the worst of workaholics winced.

This paperwork needed to be completed as soon as possible. He wouldn't have time for it later because Kaname had decided that he was now ready to begin his final plots again his wife, his rebels, and anyone else that dared to defy him.

Tonight was going to be an extremely busy one for him.

Kai Ryunei, his top executive assistant, informed him that the ambassador of the North American Vampire Realm wished to see him as soon as possible about the new Vaian trade agreements. At first, Kaname wanted to politely kick the man out of his kingdom because he was an unnecessary character in this private drama of his, but he decided against that thought.

Why?

Because he could use the man to punish Yuki _even further_ for her treacherous actions against him.

Kaname had given Yuki the responsibility of maintaining and growing the royal house's personal treasury and Yuki had exceeded his expectations in that regard. The woman had a surprising nature talent for business and economics. Kaname almost smiled. That surprising talent had been quite amusing to him back then, but not so now.

Having the means to get away from him was probably what had made her so bold in the first place. The ability to be free and independent was probably what helped her stand on her own _without_ him and _against_ him.

So, he would cut off those legs.

Next, he could also punish Yuki by way of their children. Kaname didn't really want to use his precious Juri in such a way, but it seemed like he had _no_ choice.

Yuki demanded half his kingdom.

Well, she could only have it over _his_ dead body and _their_ children's blood.

He would threaten her with total custody of their children. And he _would win_ because his kingdom knew he had _more_ of an objective right to have them then she did. Haruka was his Heir, and Juri was to be his wife. Thus, Yuki would _never_ see their children ever again if she tried to continued on with her foolishness.

So while he wouldn't allow the situation to come to that, the threat was still there and would be over her head forever like a warning blade.

As a result, he could cut off both her left and right arms.

Thus, all that was left for him to take was Yuki's heart.

And there was _one_ last tactic he could use against his precious wife for that.

A plan that would change everything again.

King Kaname Kuran decided that _now_ was the perfect time to unleash his second hidden plot against his dear wife.

A plot that would stab her at the center of her wretchedly treacherous heart.

And, ironically, what prevented Yuki's tactics against him in their first court divorce session from being truly successful was the fact that...what she accused him of doing...had _never_ happened in **the first place.**

Yuki told the world that _he_ had murdered her true-love mate, Zero Kiryu.

However, there had been _no_ murder.

**Absolutely, none. **

No murder, thus no crime, thus no justification for this divorce, and thus no right for her to get away from him.

Kaname couldn't well be charged with a murder if the supposed victim was _alive_ and _well_, now, could he?

Kaname darkly smirked.

Also, while he was darkly impressed by the level of his wife's cunning, she needed better practice with lying and deception.

A great and evil man once said, "Tell a lie so big that no one would believe that someone could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."

Thus, Kaname was slightly impressed that Yuki knew and tried that good tactic against him.

If he didn't have Kiryu/Silver under his control, he would have _believed_ her lies.

Yuki accused him of kidnapping and murdering her 'true-love mate', Zero Kiryu. But the true-love mate, Zero Kiryu, was _alive_. (Perhaps in a form completely different from what he was like before, but alive all the same.) Thus, Kaname _could not_ have committed such a terrible nightfall world _crime_ as to murder a fellow pureblood's true-love mate.

Something terrible inside him growled darkly at that, and it aimed its displeasure at Yuki.

How _dare_ Yuki try to lie and say she was true-love bonded to the vile vampire hunter! The sheer nerve! It was completely impossible for her to be true-love bonded to him in such a way!

If she had really true-love bonded to him..._why was she currently sane, then?_

The breaking of a true-love bond could only be accomplished in three ways. The first way and the most common way was for one of the bond mates to be killed. Being killed caused the power bond to react in the most vicious of ways and force the living bond mate to suffer forever for their failure to protect their love. This usually resulted in insult for the left-behind mate.

The second way for a true-love bond to break was for one of the mates to destroy the bond themselves.

And that could have _never_ happened.

While it made Kaname sick to admit it, Kiryu and Yuki loved each other too much for one of them to willing break their bond if they _really_ had one.

Yuki clearly hadn't been the one to do it and neither would Kiryu have. The man loved her too much as well. Even Kaname could admit that much.

The last way for a true-love bond to break was due to deep betrayal of one mate against the other. Well, that was true for all vampire love-bonds, really. In vampire love-bonds, if one mate terribly betrays the other (for example, they tried to murder their mate), the bond was instantly destroyed. But in the case of true-love mates, while that bond would be instantly destroyed if such a major betrayal took place, its effects on the mating pair's psyche and being was extremely terrible.

Nevertheless, Yuki was sane, healthy, and active.

That would be _impossible_ if what she had accused had been true.

Therefore, the only solution in Kaname's mind to this odd dilemma was the fact that those two couldn't have ever been true-love bonded in the first place!

Yuki's lie was _grand_, but it was a lie all the same.

Kaname wasn't above lying to get what one wanted, thus he could admire he wife for using such a good tactic against him.

It was a good trick. A _very_ good trick.

Yuki turned out to be quite an amusing foe.

But sometimes, the _truth_ was _far_ crueler. And he would take great delight in revealing one terrible truth to his dear wife.

Her Kiryu was alive.

And now, he was going to reveal _his_ Silver's and _her_ Kiryu's living existence to her.

There was an unexpected feeling of nervousness in his stomach, but he ruthlessly crushed his nerves.

He knew the risks. He understood the possible consequences. However, if one wanted what they desired, then they needed to bluntly face their risks and damn their consequences.

Kaname desired to have Silver and Yuki for _himself_ **only**.

Therefore, he would not allow petty things like past guilt, present nervousness, or future fear get in his way.

Yet once Kaname revealed the silver-haired man's living existence to her, Kaname would then take great vengeful delight in informing Yuki that he wasn't _ever_ going to give him back to her.

Silver was _his_ love, and Kaname deeply believed only he had the right to claim and have him.

Still, there was one last plot Kaname could use against his Yuki, even after he revealed the living man to her again. A plot that was his best weapon against her.

Yuki would have to end this divorce, lose her ruling rights, promise to stay by his side, and allow the silver-haired man to be his forever...if she wanted that man to _continue_ to live.

This weapon would stab her at her heart.

Kaname _knew_ his wife. He _knew_ her like she _knew_ him.

And while this was the cruelest of smoky manipulations (Kaname could never _really_ harm _his_ _dear_ _Silver, _after all) - it was _necessary one_.

Kaname's dark soul gleamed. Perhaps that vile woman would be able to feel some measure of hurt and pain that her stupid actions against him made him feel.

She once chose someone else over him. Then he was neglected. After which, he had been abandoned. And now, she was threatening one of the few things that made him _who he was._

**His power** - the _very_ heart of him.

So, no forgiveness. No mercy. No pity.

She stabbed his heart _first,_ and time after _time_ again, at that.

He was just returning the _favor_.

All too soon, the paperwork he had been ripping through and working on had finally come to a quick end.

Kaname stared at the large pile of finished papers.

Inside him, he felt like a thousand ghost voices were screaming at his conscience. Trying to warm up his cold, dead heart.

_You don't have to do this, Kaname. _The mental voices said._ You don't have to go this far. _

**Crush**.

He had never apologized for what he chose to do and wanted.

He would not start now.

Kaname pressed a button on his makeshift office phone and summoned his top executive assistant. Kai Ryunei's small head poked itself outside of his door and seeing that his king was finished came fully in the room. This man had done well for him last time and Kaname was sure to reward him for all his efforts, but not at this time.

"Inform Takuma that he needs to arrange a meeting between my wife and I _immediately_." Kaname ghostly smiled. "Also, tell him to tell her...that I have _someone_ with me she desperately wishes to see."

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N: **Ha! And so the plot marches on! XD

As a warning, the next chapter and the following ones will reveal Zero's breaking/Silver's creation as well as the kidnapping of..._certain_ _people_! ;D (Strangely, those two important plot points clashed together so well, somehow! X_X)

To answer a question that I got and I'm sure many of my readers are wondering about - I think there might be one last nice lemon between Silver/Zero and Kaname before the end of this arc, but that is near the end of it. XD

Anyway, you can PM if you have any questions, my readers! But thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long, I love them all!


	62. Chapter 61 Hazard

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago**

It was the screams of those he didn't know that had woken him up. Those few painful screams and the sharp bite of cold metal bars. Zero found himself hanging in a large metal cage in a dirty and icy underground cavern room and he felt heavy metal chains on his arms and legs. Around his dry throat was a large metal collar and his various punishing wounds started their complaining.

Zero Kiryu, ex-human twin-combined vampire hunter, was completely and utterly trapped.

This was _not_ good.

His metal bindings didn't allow him much movement, but despite that, Zero slowly peeled open his left crusted lavender eye and rapidly blinked it in the dim light. He had been pierced by a sharp small knife above his right eye and so his old blood from the wound had dried it shut.

What little he had left of his torn white wedding suit was bloodied and hanging off his ragged and wounded body. The fragmented outfit did nothing to warm him in this icy cold cave. Zero's left eye looked over to his broken right hand. It was still throbbing and was gradually turning black and purple.

_What happen to Yuki?_ He thought to himself. _What happen to the wedding?_ Zero was completely confused at this moment. _What in the world was going on?_ How was it that he was here and in this situation?

Zero's mind repeated the last few events he remembered quietly in his head. He had been walking towards his old car and then suddenly he had been attacked by nine Level C vampire men and one noble vampire. Zero had never fought so _desperately_ before and..._and_... that _rotten evil bastard Kuran_ –

Zero's bewildered mind was abruptly assaulted with the remembrance of Kaname Kuran's dark victorious smile.

Instantly, a feeling of intense pain sliced his young heart.

He... had started to..._care_ for that man. He had started to _believe_ in the..._goodness_ of that lonely person.

Zero Kiryu had started to really trust Kaname Kuran.

_But..._

But for him to be betrayed _so_ _completely_..._so_ _totally_...and _so fully_...

The pain in Zero's heart increased ten fold. A feeling of aching agony started to gnaw on his spirit.

The only thing Zero could think was..._why?_

Why had Kuran allowed that? Why had Kuran permitted him to be taken to this bloodcurdling place – all alone, frightened, and injured? After everything they have gone through together – how could Kuran have -

Zero's wild train of painful thoughts stopped. Without realizing it, there was an awful quietness in the room. He didn't know when he'd noticed it but the screaming that had awoken him had suddenly been stopped.

_Stopped_.

It stopped _instantly_.

A sick feeling of dread overtook the silver-haired vampire hunter.

A large door opened, and two strange men walked in. Zero's left eye blurred a bit, but he recognized one of the two men. The man he recognized had been the one that had taken him. He looked like he was in his late twenties, but one could never really tell with vampires. He was the younger of the two men and would have been considered handsome if a large ugly scar hadn't disfigured the entire right side of his face.

The scar-face man's partner was a handsome middle-aged man with short silver-gray hair and cruel silver-gray eyes. He wore two large pearl hoop earrings, and he was holding a long white cane in his hands. This unknown vampire man looked at him, and Zero's hunter instincts started to scream.

_Too darkly powerful._ His instincts told him. _Run away! Flee for your life!_ They whispered.

Zero was immediately unsettled by the both of them.

The older man looked at Zero, and Zero stopped trying to move. His instincts were _screaming_ now but while a strange new fear was slowly making its way towards Zero's chilling heart, he met that uncomfortable and odd glaze of this new man head on.

However, because of that, the middle-aged man's silver-gray eyes lit up with a forbidding dark curiosity.

"And the customer just wanted us to kill him and burn the body?" The silver-haired older vampire nobleman lightly questioned.

"Yes, my lord." The scar-man replied.

"When did you get him?" The silver-haired man continued to curiously scrutinize him.

"The day of his wedding." His attacker promptly answered. "He'd put up a _very_ good fight. I lost six men before we could take him down fully." His attacker paused and then smiled with dark humor. "He's a vampire hunter so it should have been expected."

A dark look entered the silver-haired man's eyes. "Wonderful." The man smiled as he looked over Zero. "But he's _far_ too pretty to _just_ simply kill. He could fetch a nice price in the underground. Plus we could make a nice profit from a few films that could feature him. A vampire hunter is a rare novelty. They'll eat it up."

Underground? Profit? _Films?_

Zero couldn't speak.

Something..._something_ about that silver-haired man _terrified_ him so deeply within his soul that his naturally rebellious tongue would not dare open itself.

Zero Kiryu was familiar with evil. He knew rottenness when he saw it. But _that_ man wasn't just _evil_. Zero could feel this new and true understanding deep in his bones and soul.

That man was like darkness _itself_.

"Break him completely, Kenichi." The silver-haired man said to his younger companion. "Destroy his soul and mind. I want to remake him."

At this very moment, Zero Kiryu knew that his young life and near future would be swallowed up by an ominous destiny.

_Break him? _

_Destroy his soul and mind? _

_Remake him? _

Zero did not _really_ understand what these chilling words actually meant. However, a dark fear for his future overcame him because he knew – he knew with a strange-true certainty – that what those two men wanted to do was something he would warp him. Yet despite the fact that his new-found fear was choking off his ability to speak, Zero Kiryu made a well-defined vow to himself.

This personal vow contained three precious promises he made to himself when he realized his immediate terrible situation. These three promises were as following: 1) He would survive, 2) He would not be broken, and 3) He would find a way to escape.

In spite of this, his living nightmare was about to begin.

The silver-haired older vampire noble started to walk towards him.

Zero's heart **stopped**.

The man came closer and _closer_ and **closer**...

Fear engulfed him.

Yet, conversely, while Zero was too petrified to even speak, his clear lavender eyes radiated with resolve.

_I will get through this._ Zero thought to himself. _I will get through this, and I will get back to Yuki, and then we can start our happy life together._ Zero shakily encouraged himself. So, _whatever soon-coming terror I will face will be but another long-forgotten nightmare in the sunset of our lives._

He just needed to do three things.

_**Survive, Zero. **_

_**Do not be broken, Zero. **_

_**Look for the chance to escape, Zero. **_

Zero could do those three simple things.

Honestly, he could.

However, the darkly frightening silver-haired man reach towards him in his hanging metal cage. Zero tried to move away from that reaching hand, but at that rebellious movement, the man's silver-gray eyes looked him over again, and his lips curved into a hungry and amused smile.

Subsequently, the man's eyes changed into a blazing _red_ hue.

Zero's nervousness skyrocketed. But despite that feeling, his clear lavender eyes remained firm.

Survive. Don't be broke. Escape.

He will do those three things. He must. _He must. _**He must.**

_**Yuki**__ was __**waiting**__ for __**him**__. _

Zero watched the vampire nobleman slowly assess him. "You are quite beautiful, you know." He suddenly said.

Zero's blinked, and his heart solidify again. Those seemingly complimentary words dripped with dark foreboding. "I've never seen someone that looked and acted quite like you, my dear vampire hunter." His deep full voice softly whispered.

Zero didn't care much for this man's odd words, but his firm pure lavender eyes met the man's blazing crimson orbs without blinking.

_You will not break me_. Zero's eyes rebelliously blazed. _You will not keep me here._

If possible, the look the man gave him became even more predatory. "Yes." The man darkly smiled. "You are _quite_ the rare thing." His red eyes suddenly burned with a fresh threatening thought. "Rare and beautiful like..._a silver night_." He continued to whisper.

Zero glared at the man, and his pale dry lips twisted to form a keenly licentious smile. "I am called Masashi Sukakasi, my dear." The man introduced himself. "And _finally,_ I have found the one that will be the fulfillment of my dearest wish and dream." Masashi's voice burned was a dark and unspeakable desire.

"_You_ will be _my_ _perfect corruption_. _My_ filthy work of art." The man's left white glove hand reached toward him again between the metal cage bars.

Zero's bright soul screamed. He tried to move away, however, the metal chains -

And this crazy evil bastard wasn't finished talking yet! "And soon... Zero Kiryu..." This bastard knew his given name? Zero panicked. _"Soon, you will be my __**precious **__**prey**__ who __**wishes**__ to be __**devoured**__."_ Masashi promised as he tenderly touched the right side of Zero's bleeding face.

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-One: Hazard **

* * *

**Present**

The new revelations that Silver Night had about his true self...deeply disturbed and frightened him.

His true self..._hated_...himself.

For another time in his long history, Silver felt terribly, terribly confused. Terribly, terribly conflicted. And terribly, _terribly_ angry.

His true self hated himself.

He hated himself so purely and so viciously that Silver did not know what to _do_ about it.

However, his true self felt very near to him despite Silver's mental confusion. He was so near and so close that Silver felt like he could actually reach out and touch his true's self hidden soul. He felt disturbingly real and extremely _near_ to Silver for the _first_ time in his entire lonely life.

Silver _knew_ that if he could finally _touch_ his true self, he would _finally_ be complete, but there was still a heavy wall that separated them...and a door that blocked them from each other...and a key that was lost.

Silver had yet to find the _key_, but he _had_ uncovered what the heavy wall was made out of.

**Hatred. **

Hatred of himself – themselves – he, I, and us.

Silver Night wanted to _break_ something! _Anything!_ Anything at all!

Why this hatred of self?

Why? _Why_? _**WHY?**_

_That_ was the million-dollar answer, wasn't it?

Silver sighed roughly to himself. Both of his other selves gave him answers, but they were far from being satisfactory to him. Yet, despite his conflicted feelings, he _had_ received two answers, and they somewhat fitted together with his newest questions and ideas about his situation.

"_Until my punishment is complete." His true self said. _

"_For breaking." His waxed self said. _

Silver ran a heavy hand through his long silver hair as his swift mind formed an odd conclusion.

His true self hated himself and was thus punishing himself for...what? _Breaking_? Could that actually be the entire truth of the matter? His true self hated himself, and thus was undergoing self-inflicted punishment for breaking?

So what broke?

_**What the hell broke then? **_

_Damn it, true self!_ Silver mentally snapped. _And damn you, waxed self! _He irrationally thought._ Damn you both to the deepest level of hell! _

Why was it that his other selves were such terrible torturers to him?

_"If you refuse...,then I will __**destroy you**__, __shadow one__." The waxed self threatened. "I will destroy you for not fulfilling the true self's wish."_

The true self had locked himself away from him, while the waxed self had promised to destroy him if he investigated into his hidden past any further. Silver had felt terrible betrayed by such an announcement, but then he became utterly _furious_.

With all his painfully salvaged evidence, his true self only wished to survive _and_ be punished? Really?

This didn't make the slightest bit of sense!

And to top it all, he would be destroyed if he didn't stop his search for who and what he once was. He would be destroyed by some _other_ self _within_ him.

In a way, _he_ was his own worst enemy.

Something about this fate was so darkly _funny_ that Silver could barely contain his crazed dark laughter. This entire situation..._this entire situation_ was _completely and utterly insane!_ His life was a _joke_. A terrible, terrible _joke_ but he couldn't find the energy to laugh.

He refused to cry.

Silver sank himself into one of his master's hotel living room red sofas. His internal life was coming to a confusing stand-still now. Silver couldn't really think of a way to fix it. Therefore, he needed to focus on something he _could_ do. He needed to focus on his external life and world, but _it_ was _also_ a confused mess!

For one hundred years, he lived as an imprisoned vampire sex slave. During all that time, he had come close to death over a thousand times, but he somehow found that dim chance to survive. Silver had grown in skill and technique. He had perfected every single natural talent and gift he had. He had honed all his abilities, and he had developed a well-practiced pattern and habit whenever he got a new master.

First, he would enchant. Then he would seduce. Next, he completely claimed. And finally, he totally destroyed.

Enchant. Seduce. Claim. Destroy.

That was his pattern of habit.

Silver achieved stages one and two. He was had almost completed stage three, and soon he would have to start stage four.

Yet, Silver felt dreadfully conflicted with doing just that.

He had resolved that he would destroy his newest master. He really had. Silver had decided he would destroy Far Eastern Vampire King, Kaname Kuran. Just like how Silver had destroyed the lives of all his previous masters and mistresses of before.

Silver had many reasons for doing this, and of course, he felt _totally_ justified for what he was planning to do, _but_...but..._why_ did he feel so..._uneasy_ about planning the destruction of this new master of his.

**Why? **

The man _should_ be destroyed. Destroyed for daring to control him when Silver did nothing but provide him pure pleasure and his dream of happiness. Silver _should_ destroy his Master Kaname. Master Kaname was just like all his other masters. **No**! Master Kaname was the _worst_ of his past masters!

The absolute worst.

The man had...pretended to..._care_ for him. That man pretended to see him as something _other_ than a _Doll_. That man had treated him like he was a _precious person of his!_

It had been a _deception_.

Silver felt like the world's biggest fool.

Here he was, a master seducer, and he had gotten seduced by his master's _seemingly_ genuine acts of care for him. Was he that desperate for affection? Was he that desperate to feel _like_ a real person? Despite their rocky start, hadn't Master Kaname developed into..._something_...to him?

Surprisingly, Silver did not really understand his half-false emotions and views towards his Master Kaname.

Silver hated him. Yes, he hated him just like he hated all his past masters. But something between them had been... _off_ ...from the _beginning_.

Master Kaname did not touch him like he was a mere toy or an amusing pet. Nor did Master Kaname hold him like a disposable thing. Master Kaname...had made him feel... _safe_.

**Safe. **

For the first time, in a long time, Silver felt strangely safe.

Of course, it could be due to the fact that his master was a pureblood vampire king, and thus he had power that no mortal could ever believe or achieve. Master Kaname could not be harmed in ways that other lower creatures like him could be. Knowing that such a powerful creature held you in their arms and heart had been such a..._delightful_...feeling.

It was delightful...and strange.

He didn't have to worry. Nor did he have to fear anything. Silver had felt..._secure_...for a moment. He did not have to worry about many things during his time with Master Kaname. Not about food, or clothing, or shelter, or rivals, or the thousands of other things Silver worried about in the past. That last few months were just between them.

Silver had only had to worry about his Master and 'them', thus he had felt..._safe_.

And then, without the slightest bit of warning, his Master destroyed his illusion of safety with one simple force-command.

Silver's stomach twisted with low-burning disgust and rage.

_Fool_.

He had been played for a fool.

Oh, Silver hated _many_ things, but one of the things he most especially hated was the loss of his sovereign control of himself. He was a creature who had nothing. Absolutely nothing he had but the ability to control his own actions and at least decide his physical movements, if not his fate.

But his Doll Enchantments could take away even _that_ small ability. His only ability. His _only_ freedom.

Yet, what made it _so much worst_ was the fact that Silver truly believed he had done everything he could not to give his Master Kaname _any_ reason to use those accursed enchantments.

He was the perfect dream lover. The ideal friendly companion. The idyllic shadow mate. Silver had forced himself to become the flawless hidden partner who embodied all of his master's hidden dreams and secret wishes. The fact that his master, in the heat of the moment, had tried to form a love-bond with him last night, was a great sign that his claiming phase of his intentions was coming to its end. The only thing that would have made that moment last night even _more_ perfect was for his master to declare his love for him verbally.

Silver lightly touched his neck. The two small wounds were still there and so were some of the small affection bites his master graced him with during their intense activity last night. Even now, small bolts of pleasure would hum inside his veins whenever he lightly touched them.

_I love you, Silver. _

If Master Kaname had said those four words last night, everything would have been completed and -

Something turned bitter inside Silver's stomach.

He should have been thrilled at this development...he really should have been. Last night would have been perfect if –

_No. _

Silver's logical mind sneered at his pathetically needy heart.

_Perfect?_ _How so?_ This mind sneered. _Did you forget about your master's previous attempt to dominate and control you with his humiliating __**total**__ authority over your being? Did you forget what you are, shadow self? _

Silver really _was_ the world's biggest fool.

_"Kindness is not for you. Happiness is something you will not have. And love will never be yours." Said the waxed self. _

Had he been..._falling_...for his new master? Had he really? Had he developed some sort of weird personal _attachment_ to that dark-brown eyed man?

_Him?_

_I am a fool._ Silver thought to himself. _I am really a fool to be taken in by my own illusions. _

While kindness was something he mildly understood, he did not know happiness. He had never experience what happiness was, and love? Silver's ruby lips twisted in mocking self-disgust.

He could not love.

He didn't even _know_ what _love_ was anyway.

All he could do was poison and corrupt. Contaminate and destroy. Taint and murder.

Just like First Master Masashi always said he would forever be.

Silver suddenly felt like fainting or vomiting.

He was _just like_ what Master Masashi shaped him into.

**Crack.**

Silver's limbs started to tremble._ A contaminated creation. _

Crack_. Crack._

Silver's heart started to rapidly race. _A filthy work of work_.

Crack. _Crack_. **Crack**.

Silver's head started to viciously ache. _A prefect corruption_.

**NO!**

Silver instantly knew what was happening. His true self was _leaving him alone_ now. His true self was pulling himself away from him. The sudden distance between them was terrifying.

_No!_ Silver thought. _Don't pull away, true one!_

Nevertheless, something inside him felt like it was _**breaking**_. Breaking. _Breaking_. _**Breaking**_. It felt like glass pieces and mirror bits were crashing together inside his mind. Thousands of images, millions of thoughts, and billions of words were engulfing him as his true self pulled, _pulled_, _**pulled**_ away.

_Don't go, true self._ Silver panicky pleaded. _Please don't go!_

It was so rare for him to feel connected to his true self! To understand his true self and to be near his true self!

Pull. _Pull_. **Pull**.

Hold. _Hold_. **Hold**.

Silver didn't want to lose the last thing he had! Silver desperately wanted to help him. That was all he had ever tried to do!

Pull. _Pull_. **Pull**.

Hold. _Hold_. **Hold**.

But how could Silver help him if the man refused to even help himself?

Knock. Knock.

Instantly, Silver - and _strangely_ his true self – was distracted from their mental battle of wills by a curiously light knocking sound.

Like he was in a weird daze, Silver quickly walked over to his master's hotel suite door and opened it.

Silver blinked his purple-gray eyes slowly.

Princess Juri Kuran gave him a bright, if slightly tired, smile.

"Hello, S-Silver-sama!" Juri grinned. She lifted up two white paper bags full of sweets and lightly shook them under his nose. His moonlight nose was assaulted with the sweet scents of sugar and vanilla. "I-I was..._wondering_ if I could talk with you for a _little_ bit!" The young girl beamed.

Deep inside him, Silver felt his true self come closer to the edge of his awareness. Silver's mind raced. His true self always seemed to response positively towards his master's two children. Especially the young Juri!

Silver looked at Juri and gave her a small smile. "Of course, you can speak with me, my dear princess." Silver softly said. His true self wasn't pulling away from him anymore with Juri's unexpected presence.

What was it about _Juri_ that made his true-self more responsive and conscious? Silver didn't know if his true self ever understood their outside world or situation and in a way, Silver hoped he didn't.

His true self was _already_ suffering with chain-like thorns and bloody restraints. And their outer world was worst. But every since he came into his Master Kaname's possession - everything had started to change.

And perhaps..._perhaps_...Princess Juri was the key to all of this?

He turned his head towards the inside hotel suite. "It's about your parent's first divorce court session last night, isn't it?" It was something that he was prevented from watching, but perhaps Juri could give him some valuable insight? His master said he couldn't watch, _not_ that he couldn't know what had happened.

Juri's dark-brown eyes glowed. "Y-You're right, Silver-sama!" Juri stammered, but internally she was cheered. She definitely made the right decision to come here after all!

Silver understood her so well! Silver was so cool! Silver was so kind! He was such a perfect person! The very best person and the most wonderful man and most -

Without warning, the young princess swirling thoughts stopped.

Huh?

There was something..._strange_...on her lovely Silver's moonlight neck.

Juri silently stared at Silver for one unbelievable moment.

That strange something...looked like...bite marks and...

Silver noticed that the young princess was staring at him like she had never seen him before, and he swiftly felt uncomfortable.

_What in the world?_

Juri's young dark-brown eyes was looking...at his neck.

Silver's heart froze in dread.

**No. **

_"Our precious '__papa'__ is __cheating on mother with another man__!"_ Juri's mind suddenly remembered her brother's harshly spoken words to her last night.

_Another man._

Silver was a _man_.

Silver was a man who had _affection bites on his neck. _

Just like Mama would have some from time to time.

From Papa.

Juri's dark-brown eyes suddenly lit up with painful understanding, and her eyes started to become watery.

**Oh, no. **

In an instant, Juri dropped her two white paper bags full of sweets, and she bolted from away from Silver and her father's private hotel door as fast as she could.

Silver's heart was _bleeding. _With lightening understanding, he immediately understood what had happened. He touched his pale warm throat.

She..._Juri_ ...saw his master's marks on his neck.

She saw them.

And because of that - she started to cry.

For a moment in time, Silver was frozen into place. An unforeseen hazard had suddenly befallen him. He felt like he had unexpectedly come to an edge of the very high cliff, and he knew he would soon have to make a choice on whether he should jump or not.

_Protect her._ His true self once commanded him.

But what if _he_ was part of the reason why she was crying?

So, he couldn't protect her.

And he wasn't a protector in the first place. He was a destroyer. A destroyer of lives. Therefore, how could he protect her?

_**She is crying! Help her! **_His true self, out of the blue, ordered. _**Protect her!**_

Well, that settled it, then.

Silver raced after her.

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N**: Oh, look! Another update! XD Well, thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts in a review! Short or long – I love them all! ;D


	63. Chapter 62 Abduction

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

**The Cycle of Fear and Hate. **

For the first time in Zero Kiryu's young life, he finally understood the true meaning behind the dark emotions of fear and hatred. Zero conclusively realized what it was like to _sincerely_ feel fear and what it was like to _genuinely_ hate.

_**Fear**__._

Zero feared so much that his broken body would shake at the mere memory of his torturer's rotten touches. He feared so much that his internal organs would burn and tighten in the vile man's shadowy presence.

The icy air reeked with his fear and the cold cave walls were covered with his past spilled blood. The numerous frozen shackles, ropes, bars, metals, and wood poked and prodded into his quivering dying body and would continue on with their given order to perpetually remind him of _fear_.

The wintriness of his fear was starting to hungrily gobbled up pieces of his mind and sanity. Day after day, hour after hour, minute by minute, second by second – he felt his fear slowly consume his dignified sanity and he was nearing the shady borderlands of the mad.

Kenichi Daisuki was the man that taught him what real fear tasted like. He was also the man that made his body sing numerous songs of PAIN_..._every..._single_..._**day**_.

Flagellation.

Thrashing.

Boiling of limbs.

Bone breaking.

Chinese Water Torture.

Piquet.

Water-boarding.

Garroting.

Cutting.

And more and _more_ and **more** tortures came as time moved slowly on.

Everyday there was a new torture that Zero was introduced too. Everyday there was a new torment to feel or a new pain to suffer. More and more and still more torture techniques tasted his skin that vampire and human, both capable of all things evil and twisted, had created to make their chosen victims scream and beg, to cry and wish, to pray and to weep for release...or _death_.

Night after night without fail, the man that inspired his fear would come. Kenichi would touch his bleeding skin gently and then make the wound deeper and bloodier. Kenichi would caress him softly, and then force him to experience a new type of hell. His dry dead lips would slowly lap up his fresh blood and his disgusting snake tongue would whisper violent praises, cruel hopes, and sadistic dreams into his deafening ear.

And on and _on_ and **on** it went.

Starvation.

Sleep Deprivation.

High Pitched Sound Torture.

Intimidation.

Solitary Confinement.

Shaming.

Sensory Deprivation.

Pharmacological Torture.

At this moment, Zero's body was now becoming too accustomed to _pain_. He had become intimately familiar with _suffering_. The soreness in his four limbs, the slow throbbing of his weeping heart, the aching in his bloody flesh, the eternal stinging in his eyes, the feeling of his own blood always dripping, _dripping_, _**dripping**_...

Pain had become Zero's familiar companion.

Yet despite the pain, _and_ the fear, _and_ the countless and continuous torture, there was one other emotion that Zero felt that overrode his incessant and uninterrupted procession of pain, suffering, and fear. Yes, one emotion that overrode every other feeling he could ever feel again. This emotion scalded his bones, charred his blood, scorched his mind, and blistered his soul.

This emotion was...

_**Hate.**_

Kenichi Daisuki may have been the man that had taught him was fear tasted like.

But Masashi Sutakasi was the man that taught him was _hate_ tasted like.

And Zero bitterly, _desperately_, and **furiously** hated the man called _Masashi Sutakasi. _

Like fear, pure and true hate was something that Zero finally understood. Once upon a time, Zero would have said that he hated and despised the members of a nightfall world in general. However, now, Zero realized that what he had felt back then was merely a stupid child's mild temper tantrum and terrible hurt. Yet, now, Zero could finally know the _real_ feeling. He finally knew what pure hate tasted like – smelted like. He could finally feel its heavy and intoxicating darkness build inside him as it inched its clawing way deep into his darkening heart and slowly maddening mind.

Like a burning aching sickness in his belly, he learned the feel of true and pure hatred. Hate flowed like corrosive acid from his weak young-old heart and hate burned his face whenever he shed tears. However, despite all his hatred, despite all his fears, despite all his pains, the millions of ruby tears he silently cried were nothing more then useless bloody salt water.

The man that embodied all of his hate, Masashi Sukakasi, always came to him after the man that made him eat his fear daily had completely covered him in his own fresh blood.

Zero would then be forced to experience a chilling horror that robbed him of his hunter's pride, shattered his male dignity, and debased his noble personhood.

And _after_ Zero was forced to experience Masashi's favorite brand of horror, Zero would be _**completely healed**_.

All the tortures, pains, wounds, and blood on his skin would be completely healed with darkly spoken promising words._ "__I will make you my prefect corruption.__"_

This cycle was viciously endless.

First, Zero would be brutally hurt, and last, Zero would be intensely healed.

Hurt. Heal.

_Survive, Zero. _

Hurt. Heal. _Hurt. Heal._

_Do not be broken, Zero._

Hurt. Heal. _Hurt. Heal._ **Hurt. Heal.**

_You will escape one day, Zero._

But this endless cycle of fear and hate, of hurting and healing...was starting to _break_ his resolve.

Time stop meaning anything to Zero now.

There was only _**the cycle**_, and the cycle would always start afresh again the next infinite night.

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-Two: Abduction**

* * *

**Present **

Gook Song's ears were ringing.

_Wow_. Sosono really got a voice on her despite being an old crab woman. _Sheesh_.

The young Korean pureblood listlessly sat down in the emergency staircase of the King's Wing Building of the Imperial Hotel. Gook massaged his temple for a few brief moments in order to brush away his mild ringing headache.

The staircase was completely empty and somewhat dusty due to a great lack of use for it. The Red Wing Building had over seventy floors, therefore, the average guest and worker would have been out of their mind to use these distant stairways for anything else other than a true emergency. Therefore, Gook felt completely confident that he could have his private phone conversation with the old female crab here, and not cause any odd looks from unneeded characters. That was why he came here in the first place. Furthermore, it was a good way to clear his thoughts and try to re-think his next moves as he slowly made his way up towards his floor that was at the smack center of this stupidly big hotel.

Still, as Gook Song made his way slowly up the stairway and stared at the various white dusty walls and side railings in front of him, he had one major question on his mind.

That question was - _Princess Juri had a __**fiancée**__? _

What in the world?

The young Gook was utterly furious!

How could the Princess have a fiancée? And who was that _bastard_ in the first place?

Gook growled under his breath as he thought about it. _Perhaps it was the prince?_

Gook growled louder at the cursed thought!

While it was a common practice for siblings to marry each other within the pureblood sphere of vampire society, Gook was definitely not pleased with the idea. That rut prince had no business marrying Juri! He was weak and useless and stupid and worthless! Prince Haruka had no right!

No right at all to get Juri!

Thus, Gook decided to cement _his_ resolve.

Even though he knew the other rebels wanted _both_ the prince and princess alive for this scheme of theirs to work, somehow, during Sosono's plot, Gook was going to find a way to..._remove_... the prince from the picture...**permanently**.

After all, Gook decided that he wanted to be _just_ like his idol and role model – King Kuran. Thus, he was going to do what his idol _would_ have done in this situation. Yeah! That's it! And what did his perfect idol and role model do when he had a suppose rival (but could you really call that ex-human guy a 'rival') for his future consort mate's affections?

Didn't he just _eliminate_ him from the picture?

Yeah, _he did._

So, Gook was just going to do the same thing against prince-tema!

After all, it was something only a _real_ son of King Kuran could ever do. And Gook wanted to be as alike to King Kuran as much as he possible could.

So, as he slowly walked up the stairs to his floor and room, Gook thought about how he could accomplish his future intentions and ambitions.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

Old Butler Rio decided it was time to clean up his King's private grand hotel room.

He hummed a little old tune as the large elevator he was in slowly took him up to the final level of the king's hotel domain. He had just finished gathering and inspecting his cleaning cart and had gone through all the various security checks and details to get up to these three floors. While many people would have found the massive security checks annoying, Rio knew that was to be expected from someone like Lord Akatsuki Kain.

Out of all the inner-circle members, the two war and battle leaders, Lord Kain and Lady Seiren, were the most quiet and hardworking members of that small group. Rio was sure there was a joke about that strange fact somewhere. There was something weirdly ironic about that.

Still, the elderly Rio had learned that his King was currently on the third floor make-shift office space of this hotel building, and thus now was the perfect time for him to get into his chamber room, clean it up, and ensure that the man had all his special amenities in stock.

Rio may not have like what was going on within the Royal House, but he wasn't someone who slacked in his duties when times got tough!

Ha! That only happen to young greenhorns!

Butlers are the ones that take out the trash and smooth the lives of their employers! And Butler Rio was nothing, if not the _best_ darn Butler in all of professional Butler history! They should put his picture on the Great Butlers Wall of Fame (if such a thing exists) or have his picture next to it in the dictionary!

Yep.

The old man coughed away his small ego trip.

Well, then.

Anyway, while Rio knew that the times ahead of him was dark, he saw no sign for him to retire at this moment. In fact, Rio believed he would be greatly needed during this time, so retiring right now is impossible. So, Rio resolved that he was going to help the Royal House get through this troublesome time – one sandwich and tea snack at a time!

BING!

Butler Rio stopped his light humming and started to push his cleaning cart ahead of him as the elevator doors started to open.

But then he blinked.

A strange illusion seemed to be before him because before him stood a _crying_ Princess Juri Kuran.

Her badly combed blond wig was almost falling of her head, and her big dark-brown eyes were dark with mascara.

Rio froze in shock.

_What in the world was __–_Rio started to think, but then the young princess shook her head wildly at him, turned her back towards him, and raced towards the rarely used emergency staircase. He heard a loud slam of the door that signified that pathway door was quickly opened and then loudly closed.

Rio started to rapidly blink his graying eyes.

Then, without warning, after a few long moments, the King's Bedmate, Silver Night, materialized before him. His long silver hair seemed to whip around him like a knightly cape, and his gray-purple eyes blazed with alarm and concern.

"Where did the young princess go?" Silver hurriedly asked the old Rio.

Rio speechless pointed Silver towards the emergency staircase.

Without another glance, Silver raced towards that very same staircase.

BING! BING!

The elevator doors announced to Rio that they wanted to close immediately.

Butler Rio could _barely_ hear their sounds.

What exactly just happened here?

* * *

Despite the fact that she had just blasted past poor old Butler Rio towards her new-found escape route, the young princess continued to run down the emergency staircase she just found as fast as she could.

Juri felt like she was going to vomit, cry, get sick, and die all at once!

Juri's perfect life felt like it was falling apart all around her! Her young mind was twisting with the newest secret revelations, and her emotions were so out of control she didn't know what to do with them!

_**Silver...**_

Silver wasn't _single_.

**Silver wasn't hers.**

He wasn't. _He wasn't._ **He wasn't.**

He was –

**NO!** She viciously denied to herself.

But Juri saw the two small holes in his neck..._and_ her heart was breaking in shock and horror.

_Only_ extremely close and intimate vampire partners were allowed to drink from one's neck! It was such an intimate and private act of giving of oneself between vampires pairs. Juri would always blush a bright-red whenever she saw such marks on her mama or papa from time to time! However, to see such a thing on Silver…her father's bodyguard…and stupid Haruka's words…and..._and_...that could only mean -

**NO!** Juri stopped her thoughts! It wasn't possible! _It just wasn't possible!_

Could it?

Haruka can't be right!

Papa _wouldn't_ –

Silver _couldn't_ –

But the only person who could have gone into that room was her _Papa_ so it had to be –

But Juri's young mind refused to believe what her heart was trying to tell her!

Papa couldn't! Papa couldn't have! Juri knew Papa loved Mama very, _very_ much and…_and_...Papa was a _good_ –

_"My poor wife ran around the globe like a lost and mad dog after the loss of her ex-human." Papa lightly drawled. Mama could only look at Papa like he had just stabbed her straight through her bleeding heart._

Papa was a decent –

_"What do you think you are doing, Haruka?" Papa asked him in a serenely dark tone. Papa's dark-brown eyes were scarily cold as he looked at Haruka. "Do not force me to repeat myself, boy.__"__ Her baby brother looked like he was scared for his very life! He could not utter a single word. _

Papa was a –

SLAM!

Suddenly, Juri was on her butt with her face burning terribly. Rubbing her face in pained shock, Juri looked at what she had just run – _face first_ – into.

It was a military-grade energy shield.

Energy shields were the latest reality-created science-fiction inspired invention. In a way, humans went back to the basics of wall building, but in an extremely futuristic sense. As the answer to prevent complete nuclear annihilation, humans had created energy shields that could prevent any sort of weapon or army or person from piecing its barriers. However, vampires had taken such technology and modified it for their own particular needs and desires. Thus, a vampire's military-grade energy shield was the best of the best, because there wasn't much of anything that could pierce or destroy such a powerful defensive weapon.

But all those well-known facts were currently lost on the crying, hurt, and young Juri.

Juri looked at the energy shield before her in the rarely-used stairway, and it had suddenly transformed itself into a terrible and evilly mocking personal enemy towards her.

Juri's hurt emotions instantly transformed themselves into misplaced fury!

Without even thinking about it, she got up and punched the energy shield wall in front of her.

Pain greeted her fist and the shield wall fizzled a bit, but didn't disappear.

To Juri's confused mind, it felt like the shield wall was laughing at her, calling her a fool, and proclaiming her perfect life's soon-coming destruction.

RAGE.

Juri became so angry that her dark-brown eyes became a _dark red_.

She punched the shield again.

Her fists started bleeding, and her bones felt like they were being mashed.

She punched it again and _again_ and _**again**_.

Pain was racing across her body, but Juri simply didn't care about anything at this moment. The only thing that matter was this stupid wall that suddenly seemed to represent to her everything _wrong_ with her life.

So, Juri pounded against the shield.

She punched and kicked it. She pummeled and beat it. She lash out all her _hurts_ and _rage_ on it.

Hurt. _Hurt_. **Hurt**.

Fury. _Fury_. **Fury**.

Juri was so utterly furious! And the more she was hurt, the more she got angrier, and the _more_ she fought against her new enemy.

Hurt. _Hurt_. **Hurt**.

Fury. _Fury_. **Fury**.

And without warning, the energy shield before her cracked into a million yellow pieces.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, down below...**_

Gook wondered if perhaps he was dreaming.

Did heaven (or hell) decide to give him a break or something?

He had been walking up towards his floor when he suddenly heard the loud echoing of a slamming door above him and the racing of quick feet. At first, Gook started to panic, but when he realized (due to his special ability to hear the quietest of details) that only _one_ pair of feet seemed to be racing down towards him, his gut instincts flared to life, and his curiosity flashed.

That sound of an opening door seemed to be very high up.

_Very_ high up.

Perhaps even _top-level_ high up? Everyone knew the King, and his entourage had the _top_ three floors.

Hmmm.

In an act of extreme impulsiveness, Gook decided to hurriedly _investigate_ what his gut instincts were telling him.

Soon, he heard something or _someone_ slam into a hard surface, and Gook winced. However, before he could sympathize with the idiot, he heard a strange and powerful pounding noises against the hard surface. After a moment, something seemed to crack apart and the sound of moving feet greeted his well-trained ears again.

Gook continued to wait to see who or what was coming down towards him.

However, without warning, Gook heard the echoes of _another_ person entering the stairway from above him and that person seemed to be _chasing_ after the first person.

"PRINCESS JURI!" An unfamiliar male voice shouted out and if possible the first set of feet seem to run down the stairs faster as if it was really being pursued.

Gook blinked.

By all that is dark, Gook was _one lucky guy._

"Sosono!" Gook hissed to his cell phone, and it quickly dialed the crab female rebel's private number.

"What is it, Gook?" The older woman irately hissed. She was definitely not pleased to hear from him so soon.

"The emergency staircase!" Gook murmured. "There is no one here but the princess and some unknown male! I can get the princess easily here, and no one will see us!"

The was a big silent and surprised pause on the other end of the line but then rebel leader said, "What floor?"

"The 41th!" Gook rapidly answered.

Sosono snapped."I can open my transport portal at the 36th! Helpers are coming from the 28th floor. Get her now and don't mess up!"

Gook slammed his cell phone back into his pocket.

What another perfect chance he had! The heavens were helping him!

Goog Song hurriedly reach into his hidden pockets and prepared one of the special poison needles he had gotten from the always-shady Chinese Governor Huang Fu Wang that could temporarily blocked a pureblood vampire's powers and healing abilities. Plus, it was a rapidly acting drug.

All too soon, Princess Juri Kuran stood before Rebel Gook Song, and as dark-brown eyes met black orbs - the two young teens stared at each other as if they could not _believe_ their luck.

Gook widely grinned. "Hey, my lovely princess!" He smirked. "Fancy seeing you here! Would you like some of my _aid now_?" He sarcastically asked with a little wave.

_Humph! _Despite the fact that Juri's hands and arms were bleeding, and she felt like she was going to faint at any minute, she wasn't about to lose anymore of her dying pride. "Leave me alone, Gook Song!" Juri hissed as she turned away from him. She just didn't like this guy! He was always so pushy and overbearing and so rude to her snail brother and _Silver was right behind her and -_

On the contrary, and out of the blue, Gook dashed towards Juri and slammed her hard against the nearest stair wall. Juri started to scream but he quickly covered her mouth. "I wasn't really offering to _help_, princess." Gook smirked again.

Without any prior notice, Juri felt a long thick needle get jammed into her pale neck. And before she could fight, she felt a foreign substance get instantly injected in her bloodstream.

Juri fearfully panicked. _What in the world just happened?_

Biting his locking mouth hand, Juri violently pushed Gook off her and darted back up the stairs. Her arms whimpered in pain as the terrible angled movement, but Gook quickly got her ankle and ferociously pulled her down. Juri's head was slammed against the rough stairs, and she felt bloody fluid slowly leak out of her head and through her blond wig and hair.

Juri hissed at this new pain, but she suddenly felt very, _very_, **very...**woozy.

"JURI!" Another male voice screamed in fright.

But Gook pulled her brutally towards him and cradled her in his arms. He started to bring her downstairs and while she tried to fight against it, Juri's head started to spin.

She could fight him.

She could...she _could_...

**But**...

Everything... suddenly...seemed...

So...very..._far_...away...

...and...fast...and...slow...

"JURI!"

Someone...was...calling...her...name...

Someone...that...sounded...like...

_Like_...

Like..._her_...

_...__**Knight**_...

* * *

Silver Night raced down the emergency stairway of the Imperial's Red Wing of the King's Building.

Thousands of emotions and feelings were ripping through him at this exact moment.

Alarm. **Fear**. Panic. _Distress_. Anxiety. Pain. **Apprehension**.

Excitement. **Tension**. Enthusiasm. Animation. _Unrest_. Dread.

**Protectiveness**.

Silver's inner and outer worlds seemed to be merging, bending, and twisting together for one single purpose.

_**She is crying! **_

_**Help her! **_

_**Protect her! **_

"JURI!" Silver yelled down the empty and dusty stairway. He was completely focused on his chase.

For the first time in his life, it felt like his true self was suddenly connecting himself to him. A feeling of energy, vigor, and _purpose_ were rushing through his dilated veins, and Silver felt..._**alive**_.

These new and old feelings and sensations burst inside his heart and soul. It was a familiar formality. An intimate strangeness. A trueness and...

A _oneness_ in purpose.

His raced down flight after flight of stairs, uncaring of his dangerous rapid pace. The quickness of his movement was so precise that if he had made one mistake, he could have broken his neck.

But there would be no mistakes.

For the first time in his long life, this shadow person was feeling the burning flaming light of his true self's pure soul. Silver had a mission – a goal – a purpose that was connecting him with his true self.

But there was still a terrible wall of separation.

Old words, internal fears, and murderous memories seemed to war against this current miracle. The words of the dead and lost were viciously battling against Silver's precious first connection to his true self.

_**She is crying. **_

"_You are my perfect corruption. My filthy work of art." _

_**Help her. **_

_"Forever will you be my greatest contaminated creation, my wonderfully defiled Silver Night."_

_**Protect her. **_

"_You are the immaculate traitor, the pure-hearted murderer, the worst innocent betrayer of all time.__"_

The words of his past, the words that defined and dictated who and what Silver was passionately warred against this major life-changing event. And because those words were so old and his true self's words were so young, he could barely figure out which set of words to believe and obey.

So, even as Silver raced down after Juri – he was in a mentally wreaked state.

But then he smelt blood.

Pureblood vampire blood.

The scent of it was _intoxicating_ but terrifyingly..._**familiar**_.

Familiar in an old and new way.

"JURI!" Silver screamed. That was her unique scent! The scent of sweet peas and vanilla.

_**Protect her now.**_ His true self pronounced.

With the precise of a fighter pilot, Silver swiftly turned around the next flight of staircase downward, and he finally saw the girl who remanded him of..._glory_.

And Silver's heart..._**blazed**_.

A bloody and glassy-eyed Juri was being held by an unknown young foreign pureblood male vampire. The youth's black eyes burned in shock at him. "Who the hell are you?" The teen yelled.

Silver's eyes blazed with furious protectiveness.

"_Her knight_." Silver snarled, and he raced down towards them.

* * *

Juri was violently thrown against the wall like a dirty rag doll. Her head suffered its third hard hit, and Juri nearly went unconscious.

She... could not...black-out...now.

Whatever the evil Gook had injected her with was addling her senses and preventing her from moving or thinking clearly. Juri felt terribly sluggish, confused, and tired, but despite that, around her, she heard the sounds of physical combat in a tight space.

Punches. _Kicks_. Dodges.

There was heavy breathing and painful gasps.

Throws. **Trips**. Blocks.

_Silver_...

_Silver_ was _fighting_...

_Silver_ was _fighting_ for _her_...

Thus, she couldn't black-out now...she had to...

She had to help him, but...

Her body seemed to be shutting down...

Suddenly, Juri heard a _new_ sound that stopped her girlish heart.

The quick fight had come to a unnerving standstill and there was a bad clicking sound.

That sounded like a gun.

* * *

The young Gook Song aimed a small pistol at the silver-haired fighter. He was bleeding from the corner of his eye, his bottom lip, and he was breathing terribly. His enemy looked a little worst then him, but not by much.

_Who the heck was this long-haired bastard?_ The young pureblood hissed to himself. _Who the hell was he?_

Gook had been completely caught off guard with how well that unknown man's fighting skills were. He almost felt like he was fighting a powerful vampire hunter, _of all things_, and he was deeply on edge. Gook may have been a pureblood, but he was a _young_ one who hadn't developed into his full potential and abilities. So, he couldn't just order this guy to simply _kill_ himself thus get the guy to leave him _alone_.

It really sucks to be a young teen vampire, sometimes.

Silver eyed the small gun of Princess Juri's attacker.

**Guns**.

Silver was deeply afraid.

Not in the normal sense that here he was in a fist fight that had somehow transformed into a gun show was he afraid.

_No. _

Guns always made Silver feel terribly sick to even think about, much less see. Guns trigger terrible feelings inside him. It was a strange phobia to have because Silver didn't fear any other type of weapons like he _feared_ guns.

Holding a gun was like putting a dagger in his _soul_. Touching one always caused him to feel terrible _intense_ pain.

And now, he was feeling that same terrible binding phobia emotions again. These new intense feelings were _overwhelming_ him.

By darkness, he was not able to protect her. Silver hated himself purely at this moment.

While Silver watched the shaking hand of Juri's attacker, he could smell Juri's blood slowly leak out from her and form a pool of bright-red blood around her limp head.

_**Protect her!**_ His true self cried out.

But he couldn't move.

A terrible chant of his past failures, his current weaknesses, and his foolishness erupted in his mind. The chant was so loud he could not even hear his true self's panicky orders or commands.

I can't protect. _I can't protect._ _**I can't protect.**_

That was true, wasn't it?

That was and will always be true. Silver couldn't protect. Even though he could fight, he couldn't protect. Even though, he desperately wanted to, he _couldn't_ protect.

Silver Night was a destroyer. A destroyer was all he was and could ever be.

I can only destroy. _I can only destroy_. _**I can only destroy.**_

_**Protect her! **_A voice cried again.

But an aching grief engulfed him. A stinging pain tortured his heart. This throbbing anguish that he could not protect a person he desperately wished he could was overwhelming his psyche and being.

Silver was suddenly so..._tired_.

So, very, very tired of..._everything_.

The evil mental chant continued to chock and destroy his previous intense resolve as he listlessly stared down the barrel of a pistol gun.

I can't protect. _I can't protect._ _**I can't protect.**_

But, suddenly, a firm, true voice loudly declared four astonishing words.

_**THEN**__** I **__**WILL PROTECT! **_

And Silver was abruptly... _asleep_.

* * *

Juri tried her best to keep her eyes opened and her mind aware of what was going on, but she was fading fast.

Whatever toxic substance that evil boy had injected her with was preventing her natural healing abilities from working, and she was losing _way_ too much blood.

An injured Gook held a small pistol at a bleeding Silver, and the two males were at a standstill. Young black orbs stared blankly at pained gray-purple eyes, and Silver looked like he was losing...himself.

But, in a blink of an eye, Silver's eyes became very, _very_ strange.

His typical purple irises were blazing, but his eyes had a slight change to them. Instead of being darkened with the subtle gray like they normally were, they were now the clearest amethyst orbs that Juri had _ever_ seen.

As if he was an elite samurai warrior from the old world, Silver glared icy daggers at the young foreign pureblood male. His look was so _cutting_, it could make the rockiest of vampire hearts bleed purple blood.

Gook's hand trembled with non-understanding fear.

Like a wild white tiger, Silver fearlessly launched himself against his attacker and grabbed his small gun out of his hand and pointed his taken gun at her attacker's heart. He stepped defensively before her and blocked her from view.

"You damn beast in human form!" He insultingly snarled. "Take one more step towards her, and I'll rip you apart."

Juri's heart fluttered for a brief moment.

Silver was protecting her.

_But..._

He wasn't like the _Silver_ she knew.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Well, isn't this an interesting plot twist? XD Well, thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long – I love them all! :D


	64. Chapter 63 Kidnapping, Part I

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Vampire hunters had much to learn in order to be the last standing defenders of humanity.

Vampire hunters were trained to account for any type of situation. It was why they always started their intense training in their earliest of years. They were taught combative, survival, detective, and battle skills. They learned how to process information quickly and how to form logical theories and solutions to a variety of problems. They had a code of honor, and their creed was to protect. Vampires hunters were the only group among humans that could logical stand against the cruelly powerful inhabitants of the Nightfall world and protect the race under the sun from all the moon race's evils.

Vampire Hunters were protectors – first and foremost.

However, _who __**protected**__ the protectors? _

Zero Kiryu didn't have an answer to that particular question.

Earlier in the night, Kenichi had come and had cut into his healed flesh and licked up his red blood like a staving dog. He made numerous small and long cuts within his skin, and each cut was as thin as a paper-cut and burned like hot iron. Zero had endured the torture as best he could but that meant absolutely nothing. His pain had sung out from his burning throat, and Kenichi had been darkly pleased at the sounds.

So darkly please, in fact, and to Zero's utter _disgust_, he could _smell_ the fact that Kenichi's cock had hardened with blisteringly lust _during_ his newest torture session.

That monster had been _aroused_ during the _entire_ thing.

By the sword of blood, Zero was under _no_ illusions that if Kenichi had even _half_ a chance, the vile bastard would force him on his back and violate his being without a _shred_ of care for his dignity and sanity. Zero could feel it in the way the man touched him now. Zero could feel it, and his heart clenched at the mere possibility. Kenichi was the physical embodiment of all of Zero's crushing fears and if such an event happened...Zero didn't think he would be able to _take_ it.

Yet, fortunately and unfortunately, the right to do _that_ was reserved for the man Zero _most_ hated. The man called Masashi Sukakasi.

After Zero had been covered in his own blood, Kenichi let him be. However, Masashi then appeared and _raped_ _him_. Raped him like he always did after Kenichi's torture sessions.

At first, Zero had tried to fight – just like Zero fought everything in his young painful life - but doing so only caused him to be hurt worst because of it. The drugs that Kenichi forced into his system, time and time again, prevented him from accessing his hunters powers and abilities. Zero was utterly helpless, and he could not fight back for very long. And once he stopped, it was worst then if he hadn't fought at all.

Because in the end, Masashi would always _take_ _him without __**his**__ permission._

The total humiliation. _The utter disgrace._ **The sheer shame.**

Within his body and soul, Zero felt _terrible_ raw and filthy. And when Masashi would finally _leave_ him, Zero felt utterly soiled and..._contaminated_.

In spite of this, as his fresh blood dried on his pale-gray skin and as bloody white fluid slowly leaked out of his disrespected body to slowly dribble down his shaking bleeding legs, Zero Kiryu was coming to the dangerous conclusion that he was coming _too_ close to _his limit_. Between Kenichi's vicious tortures and Masashi's countless sexual rapes, Zero's body, mind, and heart were coming to their various breaking points.

_Who __**protected**__ the protectors? _

Zero had no answer to that question.

But that didn't mean that he didn't have answers to other important questions.

Questions like - How long could Zero survive this living nightmare before he finally cracked and completely broke? How long could Zero survive this? _Why_ was he trying to survive this? Wouldn't it be better if Zero simply gave up and died?

Wasn't death _better_ than this terrible suffering?

A flash of past memory engulfed him.

_Tears burst from Yuki's dark-brown eyes. "No, Zero." She couldn't speak._ _"Don't die, Zero. Don't die, please. Please don't die." She repeated over and over again as she held him desperately._

There was an intense throbbing in his belly but Zero's lackluster lavender eyes slowly came more into focus.

_**Yuki**_...

Yuki _didn't_...

Yuki didn't _want him to die. _

Something inside Zero felt horribly frayed and raw.

Part of him wanted to desperately die and simply end his misery, while another part of him wanted to desperately _live_. He wanted to live, and he wanted to get back to her – to Yuki. Zero swore he would protect and cherish her, and so he needed to get _back_ to her. Wherever she was, he would be at peace. She represented a happy place for him to come home to, so if he survived, he could live with her and forget that this nightmare ever occurred.

If he survived, he could go home.

If he wasn't broken, he could go home.

If he could find a way to escape, he could go home.

Survive. Do not be broken. Escape.

Nevertheless, Zero Kiryu was starting to _crack_.

More memories of the past assaulted Zero.

"_Bodies can be broken. Minds can be shattered. Hearts can be damaged. But what is truly you cannot be." _The past wise words of his father-teacher, Toga Yagari, haunted him._ "People are more than their bodies, minds, and hearts. Therefore, even if those things are injured and hurt, if who you are is not broken, then you won't be broken. So, who are you, Zero Kiryu?"_

Well, Zero Kiryu was many, many things.

He was a human who became an ex-human. He was a vampire hunter who became a vampire. He was a twin who consumed his other. He was a protective predator and a predatory protector. He was the last survivor of his family and clan. He was an isolated inhabitant of both the sun and moon worlds.

Zero Kiryu was nature's prefect contradiction.

And he was on the verge of becoming _mad_ _crazy_ because of it.

Mad. _Mad_. **Mad**.

Crazy. _Crazy_. **Crazy**.

Zero had to be crazy. He had to be _really_ crazy. Because no sane person would be able to survive this far and _not_ become crazy. And there no sign that this evil cycle that he was completely trapped in would _ever_ stop.

He was viciously tortured, then violently raped, then cruelly healed, then he doomingly reflected, and last he despairingly hoped.

After that, in less than 24 hours, the cycle would start all over again.

Crack.

Zero could almost see the small breaks and imperfections starting to form within his mind and soul. He could almost hear his soul's screams and cries. He could feel his mind beginning to fracture.

Survive. _Crack_.

Do not be broken. _Crack_.

Escape. _Crack_.

Yet, stupidly, he forced himself to shakily repair his mental cracks. He forced himself to repair his dying heart. He forced himself to fix his wounded mind. But despite all this hard work, Zero was starting to think he was..._losing_ himself.

In Zero's slowly breaking mind and lost self, he silently cried. _Please... someone... help me to survive. Help me...not break. Help me...to escape. Help me go home to where it is __**safe**__._

But the harsh metal chains on his bloody limbs crackled on.

That awful sound was the only response to his silent plea.

Who _protected_ the guardian? Who _shielded_ the defender?

Was there even such a thing as a protector _of_ a _protector_?

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-Three: Kidnapping, Part I **

* * *

**Present**

As the Queen of the Far Eastern Realm looked out of her large hotel office mirror, she remembered her lawyer friend and ally's last spoken words.

_"Yuki, can you really offer __freedom__ to the __man __who__ killed your true love?"_

Yuki could only _look_ at Rima.

She could _not_ answer her friend's desperate question, and so she had promptly asked Rima to leave her presence immediately. But even after Rima left her presence, that question of hers still haunted her.

_"Yuki, can you really offer __freedom__ to the __man __who__ killed your true love?"_

Something inside Yuki violently twisted itself. It felt like her broken heart.

Could she?

Could she actually do _that_?

Could Yuki really give Kenichi Daisuki freedom after _all_ that he has done?

**RAGE.**

A sudden fury engulfed Yuki at that moment. The rage was so intense that Yuki could hardly _see_.

By darkness, Yuki utterly _hated_ that wretched scar-face monster.

That evil man deceived her _so_ perfectly. So perfectly did he trick her! When she had first met him, he had offered to give her some clues as to her love's location. Like a devil, he came when she was at her breaking point, and she had been desperate to find _any_ clues as to where Zero could possibly be. So, despite common sense, she had thrown caution to the wind and agreed to meet with him. But then he asked her for something _so_ outrageous that Yuki felt defiled by the _mere_ _suggestion_.

Kenichi had _demanded_ that she give him some of her blood for his information about Zero's whereabouts.

And like a stupid fool, Yuki gave him her precious blood.

Yuki had given her blood to the man who had murdered her Zero.

By darkness, Yuki's hate for Kenichi was only eclipsed by the pure hatred that she felt for _herself_.

Stupid, stupid little girl.

Stupid, _stupid_ Yuki.

_"Yuki, can you really offer __freedom__ to the __man __who__ killed your true love?"_

In truth, the words of Rima were not something Yuki hadn't expected. But to hear those words finally spoken out loud...viciously crushed Yuki's broken soul.

Could she really do that?

No, she _really_ couldn't.

In all honestly, Yuki wanted to rip that scar-face evil bastard to bloody shreds. She wanted to tear apart his flesh and grind his bones to dust. She wanted to make him felt every single bit of pain he inflicted on her precious love, and she wanted him to suffer ten times as much as her Zero suffered. By all that is dark, Yuki wanted that man _dead_.

But Yuki _wouldn't_ be able to kill him.

Why?

Because she _needed_ him.

She needed him if she was going to fight against Kaname.

Suddenly, Yuki felt like laughing and crying. She felt like giggling and weeping - snickering and sobbing.

**Fight against Kaname. **

Yuki was going to fight against Kaname.

Even _thinking_ about it sounded _**utterly insane.**_

How in the world was Yuki going to fight, much less _win_, against someone like Kaname?

What 'Yuki' was she even thinking about, really?

The stupid Yuki? The stupid Yuki who pretty much destroyed her life because of her trusting naivety? The stupid Yuki that didn't see the danger she had placed Zero in because of her love for him? The stupid Yuki that gave her blood to the man who killed him? The stupid Yuki who then married the man who _arranged_ for Zero to be killed and for a _century_ gave him every broken thing she had to give?

That Yuki was going to _fight_ **Kaname**?

The _Kaname_ that was the Far Eastern Vampire King. The _Kaname_ that destroyed all threats and all his enemies. The _Kaname_ that had transformed his dying realm into a first-class power in less than a few decades? The _Kaname_ that had within him power that was gathered for thousands of years? The _Kaname_ whose very name put horror in the hearts of his numerous enemies?

Yuki was supposed to _fight_ and _win_ against _that_ type of person?

Was Yuki _insane_ or something?

Well, yes.

Somewhat.

Yuki felt a sudden hopelessness in her situation. Without thinking, Yuki looked at herself in her office's mirror, and when she looked at the person that she saw...that reflected woman was _not_ her.

Who _was_ that woman who stared back at her in her mirror's reflection?

That strange woman was covered from head to toe in Yuki's favorite war colors. The triple colors of purple, silver, and white. Purple for his wondrous eyes. Silver for his soft and short hair. White for his pure heart and gentle soul.

That woman had on a simple white dress that had a simple silver flower design gracing it. She also wore a long white fur coat that flowed around with her movements. The woman's long black hair was held together in a simple tight bun, and her dark-brown eyes were engulfed by lavender eye shadow. Her lips were a dark plum blue, and her nails and small jewelry rings were bright silver.

The woman who looked back at Yuki was a Pureblood Vampire Queen whose large dark-brown eyes looked lifeless and empty.

A Pureblood Vampire Queen...

Yuki closed her dark-brown eyes for a moment.

_**She** _was a _**Pureblood Vampire Queen**_.

Yuki was a Vampire Queen. Not some _helpless weak girl._

The person she saw within the mirror was the perfect image of a powerful woman whose very steps caused the earth to quake. Yuki was a powerful pureblood vampire queen now. Therefore, she wasn't a pure and innocent girl anymore. This new person didn't need anything to protect her. This new person she made herself become didn't need _anyone_ at all!

So, this new woman could..._fight_.

But what was Pureblood Vampire Queen, Yuki Kuran, even _fighting_ for in the _first_ place?

Yet before that disturbing question made its way into her cold heart, Yuki's dark-brown eyes snapped opened.

Her maternal instincts were _screaming!_

Something..._was_..._**WRONG**_.

Something was wrong with one of her _children_!

Instantly, Yuki locked onto her vampire mother-child bond with Haruka.

_Nothing_.

He was irritated and sad, but not much else.

Within a second, Yuki switched to her vampire mother-child bond with Juri.

Yuki's heart tightly clenched.

**Hurt**. Confusion. **Pain**. Panic.

_**Fear**_.

Yuki was terrified.

Without thinking, she rushed toward her office's large glass windows and punched through it. The glass broke into a thousand pieces and cut up her fist. Not registering the pain, Yuki summoned her aerial familiars - a flock of ten ravens.

The black birds were before her in a manner of seconds, and stared at her with their beady eyes waiting for her commands.

"Find my daughter, now!" Yuki quickly ordered them. The birds took off like lightening.

At that very same moment, the door to her hotel office was swung open and Seiren hurriedly walked in.

"I heard noise." Seiren pointed out to explain her slightly rude actions. "And you are bleeding, my friend." The army woman's silver eyes widen.

Yuki exploded. "I don't care about that!" She yelled. "We need to find Juri now!" Yuki told her. "She's very hurt and extremely scared!"

* * *

_**Meanwhile**_**...**

Despite the fact that he had gotten no real sleep last night, was still dressed in yesterday's previous clothes, and his blond hair was sticking up in ten different places, Takuma Ichijo stared at his fellow blond Kingly Arm and shook his head with deep pity.

_Poor guy._ Takuma thought to himself. He really needed to start looking after him. If the once sharp genius could fall for this...well...times were changing, no?

"You know, Hanabusa..." The pitying Takuma started very slowly. "I think..." He paused himself for a moment, but then he just decided to get out what he was going to say. "I think you might have a drinking problem."

The blond player and notorious destroyer of feminine virtues rapidly blinked his baby blue eyes. "What?" Hanabusa was utterly confused! That wasn't the type of response he wanted to hear after revealing such important information!

Takuma heavily sighed and closed his eyes. As he pinched the bridge of his nose, he explained himself. "I had hoped that you would be able to control it, but to believe such an outrageous story heard in a _bar_-"

With a sudden understanding of what Takuma was implying, Hanabusa got angry. "I'm not drunk, Takuma!" Hanabusa hissed. "This information is coming directly from the young Prince!"

Now it was Takuma's turn to stare. The sleep crust around his green eyes had yet to be removed. It made him look like a zombie. "Are you trying to tell me that _Kaname has a Doll_ and that Doll is _the_ Silver Night _himself_?" Takuma breathlessly said. "Do you know how _insane_ that sounds?"

"Of course it's crazy!" Hanabusa hissed again. Finally! The always-smiling bastard was finally getting it! What in the world did Sayori ever see in this clueless idiot? "That's why it's probably true! The young prince has no reason to lie about something like this!"

Takuma felt like his already pathetic life was crashing to bits all around him. But all his problems suddenly made so much sense. "Does Yuki-dono know?" He wordlessly asked. "Is that the real reason behind her actions for this divorce?"

"I'm not sure." Hanabsua admitted. "But if she doesn't, and she _does_ find out...Kaname-sama is going to have a harder time dealing with her!"

By darkness, Takuma felt like he had been suckered punched in his gut with this _newest_ revelation.

Was this some type of sick joke? What exactly was Kaname even thinking _doing_ that?

Yet before Takuma could reflect more on these thoughts, his cell phone loudly rang from his messy dress pants pocket.

Ring. Ring.

As he started at it, for some reason, Takuma had a feeling of dark foreboding.

Ring. Ring.

Hanabusa hissed his teeth, but nodded his approval for Takuma to answer the stupid call.

"Good Evening, this is Takuma Ichijo, how may I help you?" Takuma mindlessly asked.

"Good Evening, Lord Ichijo." A peppy male voice greeted. Takuma recognized the caller immediately. Kai Ryunei – Kaname's Number One Butt-Kisser/ Executive Assistant. "I have a request from the King for you." He slowly informed.

Takuma's twitched his eyebrows. This was not exactly what he wanted to hear right now, but Takuma knew he could just blow this guy off if that was the case. "What is the King's request, Ryunei?"

"Please arrange for a private meeting between the Queen and him _immediately_." Kai told him.

**What. in. the. **_**world**_**? **

This again?

Takuma felt like crying.

But before Takuma could silently cry to himself, Ryunei continued. "His highness wishes for her to meet an extremely important person she desperately wishes to see."

An extremely important person Yuki desperately wishes to see?

_Who_ in the world could _that_ be?

Takuma was overwhelmed.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, In The Emergency Stairway... **_

Zero Kiryu's clear lavender eyes blazed like fiery icicles.

If Zero could promise one thing to himself at this moment, it would be that this unknown pureblood teen was going to meet his creator - the devil – _today_! While the enemy before him was young, that bloodsucking monster had dared to harm his soon-to-be wife in such a terrible way.

That was unacceptable! And he would not allow him to get away with it!

How dare this person attack and hurt Yuki? _How dare he?_

"You damn beast in human form!" Zero snarled as he held his strange stolen pistol towards the frozen young foreign pureblood vampire. "Take one more step towards her, and I'll rip you apart." Whilst Zero eyed the young pureblood, he formed a closer defensive position before the injured girl behind him.

Gook Song's heart trembled and he involuntarily flinched.

By darkness, what the _hell_ just happened?

Goog had successfully drugged the Princess, and he had been taking them to Sosono's transport portal that was located just a few more floors down. But then this unknown guy appears and like some knight in shining armor proceeds to viciously fight him, steal his gun, and then threaten him with his _own_ weapon.

How did everything change so fast?

Goog eyed the unknown man who was a living breathing wall between him and his ultimate prize.

His long silver-hair flowed around him like a knightly shield. His tall and well-toned body vibrated with strength, speed, and agility. His defensive stance was prefect – it was both defensive and offensive - and Goog could see no openings in it. But the most startling feature on this unknown person was his eyes.

_His eyes. _

His eyes were like burning bright amethyst lasers. Goog was _terribly_ frightened. No one have ever looked at him like _that_ before. He felt like he was being cut to pieces just from this man's terrible pure and intensely focused gaze _alone_.

While Gook could immediately tell that this long silver-haired man was _not_ a fellow pureblood (And thank all that is dark for that!), the man was still a confusing mystery to him and his inner beast! Honestly, Gook knew he was dealing with a vampire, but he wasn't sure how to _classify_ him.

Strangely, the man's vampirism felt..._unnatural_. Almost like a Level D vampire but then not quite. For him to be a mere Level D was _impossible_! This silver-haired man couldn't be a Level D vampire with that type of power and skills! In fact, the man was _too_ powerful to be a Level C! Incredibly, to Gook, the power that radiated off him was almost noble level like! But something within Gook told him that this unknown person wasn't a noble level vampire. After all, a noble wouldn't have dared laid such disrespectful fingers on him! As a matter of fact, there were few creatures that would dare to disrespect a pureblood vampire such as himself in such a way! The only beings who did that on a regular basis were human vampire hunters!

Gook Song blinked his black eyes.

Was he dealing with a vampire hunter then?

No way.

No _freaking_ way!

A vampire hunter who was a vampire?

Do such things even _exist_?

Still, Goog had to try something! He was way too close to his goals and dreams to stop now!

"This has nothing to with you!" The young pureblood male recklessly snarled back at the puzzling creature before him. "If you leave, I promise you I will do you no harm!"

_Of all the stupidest of things to say to him!_ Zero's lavender eyes narrowed sharply, and his finger tightened on the weird pistol's trigger. "You dared to hurt my fiancée, you parasitic beast!" Zero lowly stated. "I think I have _a lot to do with it_!" He growled out.

This bloodsucker would _definitely_ die today. _Where should he aim? _ Zero wondered mildly to himself. _The head or the heart?_

Goog Song felt like he was punched in the head again.

_Fiancée? _

Goog stared at the silver-haired man in sheer disbelief.

_Fiancée? _

_**This**_ unknown man was _Princess_ _Juri's_ _fiancée_?

_**What in the world?**_

But before Goog could think about that _incredible_ revelation any further, a pureblood vampire woman he _least_ expected suddenly appeared before the three of them.

And as the woman gave the silver-haired man a fanatical look of surprise, Goog's heart sank low.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Wow! I think last chapter made a new record for my reviews. *_* You guys really wanted to see Zero, eh? XD Well, here he is...for now at least! ;3 But this arc is only just beginning! XD Anyway, thanks for reading and _**please leave a review – short or long – I love them all!**_


	65. Chapter 64 Kidnapping, Part II

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

**PAIN.**

Briefly, Silver wondered if he would go mad. He had _never_ felt such brutal _pain_ before.

Silver felt like he was... _dying_, but _also_ _living_.

Living to die. Dying to live.

The conflicting sensations _petrified_ him.

Silver was trapped within a _new_ dream room. This room was in a place he had never been in before and that fact also terrified him. All his life and throughout all the dealings with his other selves, Silver had never been in such a place. However, strangely, Silver had a sick feeling in his belly that he knew _where_ he was. While he had never been here _before_, he had seen glimpses of this torturous place and this inherent inner knowledge of his..._chilled_ his shadow soul.

Silver was inside his true self's _Golden Room._

**TORMENT**.

Somehow, someway - Silver was finally behind the Golden Door. He was finally inside the place that trapped his true self. But, ironically, Silver desperately wished to _flee_ from it.

The pain and torment he felt within and without was _**maddening!**_

All around him was gold - pure golden walls, a pure golden floor, and one golden chair. On the golden walls were millions of pictures, images, words and thoughts. Each of those symbols were being randomly flashed and shortly viewed. It was like watching a thousand different movies all at once, and Silver couldn't really focus on any screen in particular. He saw the faces of people he never knew and knew, places he never been to and places he had been, and things he had never seen but somehow knew.

Those thousands of different images rapidly flashed on the golden wall, and Silver's mind was overloaded with too much information.

Familiar and unfamiliar. Memorable and alien. Past and present.

Everything was a mixture of light and shadow, and the confusing diverse shades prevented his mind from focusing on nothing...but...the..._**pain**_.

For once in his life, Silver felt like he was experiencing every single possible emotion that ever _was -_ all at the _same_ _time_. Each emotion had its twin, and Silver felt like he was on the verge of becoming insane.

Affection and abhorrence...

Devotion and disgust...

Love and lost, _lost_, _**lost**_...

However, there were four main emotions that rocked Silver's entire being. Four emotions that completely dominated the others, and nursed his pain like a mother would her beloved newborn child.

Those four emotions were:

_**Guilt. **_

_**Anguish. **_

_**Degradation. **_

And most importantly –_**HATE.**_

_**A dark, raging, ferocious, uncontrollable type of hatred.**_

But this hatred was so _strange_ to Silver. And this favor of hatred was completely and utterly centered in such a _bizarre_ direction.

This hate was the type of hate for one's self.

**AGONY.**

Silver was soon painted with his own sticky blood.

He was trapped on a golden chair, and a heavy silver-gold collar with the number zero weighed heavily on his delicate throat. His arms, legs, neck, and belly were chained to the golden chair, and he could not move. There was a haunting fatigue in all his limbs, and it felt like his hands and feet were rotting.

While he was bounded to the golden chair, Silver's body was besieged by hundreds of bloody evil thorns. Every inch of Silver's moonlight skin had a bloody thorn devouring his sensitive flesh. The thorns viciously clawed themselves into him, and his blood continuously dripped.

By darkness, Silver Night had _never_ been in so much pain in his entire life. However, this pain felt _both_ internal and external. Like this, pain was merely a reflection of the deeper and harsher pain that was coming from somewhere within. Silver didn't know where this intense pain was coming from or what was causing it, yet all he wanted was to escape from it.

"Someone...please..." Silver desperately cried out. "Someone...please...help...me..."

But the thorns continued to trap him and exert their sole purpose to inflict him with this prolonged suffering.

Too soon, Silver's mind stared to wildly spin out of control.

Was this what his true self felt all this time? Was this what his true self was subjected to?

How could his true self deal with this madness?

Why was his true self dealing with this?

Even though Silver knew he was in his dream world, the pain felt _so_ terribly real. The constant dripping of his blood, the constant gnawing of the thorns, the brightness of the golden walls, the coldness of the golden chair, the chilling tightness of the silver-gold collar – all these thousands of sensations had formed a terrible alliance that was focused on him to forever feel this extreme pain.

**MISERY.**

Without warning, unknown but oddly familiar voices started to echo within this evil golden room. These voices came from an unknown source, but they started to sing a horrifying new song.

Survive.

_~ "The immaculate traitor has become perfectly corrupted."~_

"**VILLAINOUS TRATIOR!" **

Do Not Be Broken.

_~ "The pure-hearted murderer is now a filthy work of art."~_

"_**MURDEROUS BRETRAYER!" **_

Find a Way to Escape.

_~"The worst betrayer has become the great contaminated creation - Prey Devoured."~_

"_**CRAZY BROKEN BEAST!"**_

And on and _on_ and **on** the voices went.

Silver was on the brink of becoming mad.

Mad. _Mad_. **Mad**.

Crazy. _Crazy_. **Crazy**.

Silver could not breath. He could not think. He could not plot or reason. The pain – both physical, emotional, and spiritual – was ripping him apart. It was ripping to him shreds...and there was _no one_ to free him. No one he could call out for help.

No one that would answer his desperate pleas.

**SUFFUR.**

But then a door opened. A door that Silver did not see.

A bronze door.

And in walked the young waxed-child self. His clear lavender eyes widen with confusion and panic. He rushed forward, and, without warning, touched the thorns, and the thorns disappeared. His small hands viciously bled, but instantly, the intense, confusing pain Silver was feeling was _gone_.

**Gone**.

Just like it had never been.

Silver wheezed and let out a few deeply relieved breaths. It was as if a door had suddenly been shut or a current of energy was diverted. The child self grunted and he seemed to be sweating with severe exertion, but at that moment, Silver didn't even care to wonder why.

The pain was gone.

_**Gone!**_

He could _finally_ _think_.

Yet, between tense lips, the waxed self looked closely at the still-trapped and chair bound Silver. "How is it that you have replaced the true self's place, shadow one?" He breathily asked.

"R-replaced?" Silver chocked out. His chest still wheezing.

"Has he gone into our outer reality world?" The child quickly asked. "He has gone, hasn't it?" The child looked terrified.

Silver was utterly flabbergasted.

"This is _terrible_." The child said. "He _must_ come back here."

"_Come back here?"_ Silver asked. "Come _back_ _here_ to this _torture_?" Silver's gray-purple eyes suddenly raged. "Why must he come back to this wretched evil place?" Silver glared at the child. "I do not wish him to be in this private hell!"

The waxed self grimaced. "This private hell is of the true self's own making, shadow self." He looked so..._**sad**_. "This private hell was formed by his own choice, shadow one. So, he must come back. _He must._ _**He must."**_

How could his true self survive such a terrible fate? "No!" Silver shouted. "Let him be free. _Let him be free!"_ He scowled at the third self. "If he is _free_, perhaps _**we**_ can become _whole_ and _one_!"

But the waxed self was unmoved. "That is _**impossible**_, shadow self."

Silver was bewildered again. "Why is it impossible?"

The child shook his little head slowly. "He is only in our outer reality because he has not yet realized it." The child answered. "The true self does not yet _realize_ it."

Silver was totally confused by the strange answer. "Realize _what_?"

"The reason for the pain. The reason why he created this cage. _The reason why he must be punished_." The waxed self answered.

Silver was wordless.

Was this pain something that his true self _willing_ subjected himself to? _Why_? Why did he create this terrible fate?

"Why?" Was all Silver could ask. "_Why_?"

"It is because he committed a great evil." The waxed self said. "And when the true self remembers his terrible sin...he will suffer and break even _further_."

* * *

**Chapter Sixty- Four: Kidnapping, Part II **

* * *

**Present**

Korean Rebel Soo Bin Han had been able to get himself assigned to be the royal prince's restaurant waiter. (Of course, this was due to the fact that he had to silently murder the original waiter and used his powers of shape shifting to take his place.) Thus, he was slowly serving the three teen boys their meal, while his brother, Im Dae, finished setting up the bombs in one of the restaurant's bathrooms.

Still, this wasn't something Soo Bin was happy doing! His pride roared at this great insult to his wonderful being!

"Stupid, stinky customers." Soo Bin growled to himself as he slammed a few glasses near the backroom washing sink. Soo Bin felt like killing something! He was a pureblood for darkness's sakes, and here he was acting like a busboy to a bunch of spoiled nobles and their ugly families! "My poor, poor skin!" He moaned. "I wonder if I'll get any acne from being so close to them!"

Sure, his vampire kingdom's independence was important, but Soo Bin felt like this was a bit _too_ much. Honestly, what if he broke a nail? Soo Bin nearly fainted at the thought! It was so hard for him to keep them this long and beautiful, you know?

"Stop bring so much attention to yourself!" His brother, Im Dae Han, hissed at him. "We just need to keep the prince here as long as possible! Sosono said they needed more time! Goog screwed up!"

Soo Bin flipped his dark hair. "Then why did she give such an important task to such a young smelly kid, then?" Soo Bin growled. "_I_ could have gotten the girl in no time flat!"

Im Dae rolled his eyes. Haven't they been over this already? "The royal children are more familiar with Goog than they are with us!" Im Dae sighed. By darkness, his brother was such a spoiled drama queen! If he wasn't the star of the show, he always pouted and acted like a big girly brat! "Him approaching them won't set of their suspicious immediately."

"Then when is Goog going to come here?" Soo Bin pouted. "My skin! My skin! All these germs will hurt my precious skin, brother!"

_Ignore. Ignore. __**Ignore**__._ Im Dae silently chanted to himself. "I'm not sure. But Sosono just said soon." Im Dae willfully answered.

In harmony, Soo Bin Han and Im Dae Han, sighed heavily to themselves.

Honestly, what in the _world_ was going on? This plan of theirs was already too risky as it was!

Sosono was a really _fickle_ woman.

She had changed the plans around so suddenly that they were quite unsure of what they should be doing, but, in the end, they decided to trust her and finally complete their assigned tasks. All they were waiting for was Goog to show up with Wang's special pureblood poison, so that they could start with their part of the plan to kidnap the Royal Vampire Prince, Haruka Kuran.

The rebels had decided that they needed to get the two royal children separately, but during the same time period. This was because if they kidnapped one without the other, then the other child would be placed under a tighter watch, and thus they wouldn't be able to get him or her.

So, Sosono created a solution on how to get both children at the same time. But while it was a good plan, it still had a lot of risks.

First, Goog Song, being the closest in ages to the two pureblood Royals, would secretly draw away the princess, inject her with the poison, and then give her unconscious body to their fellow kidnappers by way of Sosono's special power of inter-travel transport portals.

After they got the princess, Goog would be sent here to help with stage two of their kidnapping plot. Goog was to get close to the prince and distracting him for a few moments while Soo Bin and Im Dae exploded the bombs. During the massive confusion, Goog would be able to inject Wang's poison into the dazed prince. While Goog would stay behind in order to hide their tracks, the brothers were charged with sneakily get the prince into another one of Sosono's transport portal. Once they got the two Royals, the rebels would make their way to the sea port to their yacht, and quickly sail to their secret base.

The plan was _extremely_ risky, but it was the best they had.

"The bombs are ready." Im Dae said. "Just draw out the prince's meal as long as you can." He shook his head. "The prince isn't stupid, and this is the only way we can keep him here without causing too many suspicions."

"Yeah, Yeah. I got it." Soo Bin waved his brother off. "But this kitchen's sink stinky steam is hurting my complexion!" He whined.

Im Dae's eyes twitched. By darkness, what a _princess_! Most girls weren't as concerned about their looks as his brother was! His bro was losing massive masculine points!

Trying to control himself, Im Dae took a quick looked at the table were the prince and his friends were sitting.

_Wow_. What a moody looking bunch they were! Was kind of job was his brother doing anyway?

Still, everything was now set.

They just needed Sosono's orders to begin.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

Sosono's black eyes fanatically glowed.

_Oh, Lady Fortune, you are quite kind. _Sosono thought happily to herself. _What a wondrous turn of events! _

When Sosono had received the phone call from the young Gook Song, Sosono had ordered him to get the princess immediately. However, the second she hung up on him, Sosono didn't feel too confidence in the boy's abilities to follow her orders. After all, he had failed in such a simple task earlier beforehand, and past actions are generally the best indications for future achievement. Thus, Sosono had decided to come here _herself_ to make sure they got the Princess.

Sosono felt like joyously laughing! She had _definitely_ made the right quick-trigger call. Not only was the injured princess before her but the _king's hidden male lover._

What a blessed chance this was!

Nonetheless, the beautiful man was aiming a small pistol at her. Behind him, Sosono could see that the young teen princess was bleeding greatly from her head and she was quickly losing her consciousness.

Sosono frowned. The work of Goog no doubt. Honestly, the boy was so uselessly prideful and stupid! They needed her alive and _relatively_ well!

"Who are you?" The lovely silver-haired man growled out. His deep voice nearly made Sosono giddy. Still, this man's eyes were the purest of amethysts Sosono had ever seen. Those glorious orbs shone brilliantly like crown jewels, but the power behind that firm gaze was intoxicating in its intensity.

"I am the Leader of KIA – the Korean Independence Alliance." Sosono smoothly answered.

The man's amethyst eyes narrowed. "Are you the one who ordered the attack on my fiancée?"

_**Fiancée**__? _

Sosono was utterly shocked.

The king's lover was the fiancée of the Princess?

_Really?_

What a strange situation!

Still, Sosono needed to move things quickly along. They were losing too much time! She was sure the security checks would soon start to alarm at any moment! "Yes, I am the one who ordered this attack."

Sosono watched as the beautiful man looked at her like he had seen an ugly monster. She almost pouted. She wasn't bad on the eyes if she were to say anything. However, she saw him tighten his finger around the pistol's trigger. Oh, that will _certainly_ **not** do.

"You will be coming with me, lovely." Sosono said.

It wasn't a request.

* * *

Zero Kiryu's eyebrows twitched at the unknown pureblood woman's command.

"Not a chance." Zero hotly said at the odd pureblood. Yet, internally, he was desperately confused.

His situation went from bad to worst, and he had no idea of _what_ was going on.

Zero felt like he had suddenly been awakened from a deep terrible dream, and his mind felt very fuzzy. He didn't know what exactly was going on.

Suddenly, he was in some stairway with a pistol gun pointed in his face. Before Zero and behind an evil young pureblood, Zero saw a familiar female form limply lay on the cold stairway. A large pool of bright-red blood was underneath her dark head.

Zero's heart immediately clenched. One word – one name – was instantly summoned in his mind.

_Yuki_...

Yuki _was_...

_**Yuki was terribly hurt!**_

And to say that Zero Kiryu, ex-human twin-combined vampire hunter, was angry about _that_, wouldn't even begin to describe the feeling that twisted his burning chest.

With drilled training, Zero was able to snatch the odd gun away from the unknown pureblood male teen and form a defensive barrier between Yuki and her attacker. However, Zero knew Yuki was heavily bleeding. She was _terribly_ bleeding, and Zero knew he needed to get her medical care a.s.a.p!

But these two unknown foreign pureblood vampires stood in his way!

"The princess will die if we continued this, lovely." The odd pureblood woman purred. "If you come with me, we can get her the help she desperately needs." The woman urged.

_Princess?_

Zero stared after the woman in shock.

_Princess?_

_What_ princess?

Yuki wasn't some princess! She was –

But at Zero's non-cooperation, the woman deeply frowned at him. "So disagreeable!" She pouted, but then her black eyes flashed a dark ruby hue. "Then, _go to sleep, low level."_

In an instant, Zero felt the natural power of pureblood vampires to force-command lower level vampires to submit to their control grab a tight hold of him. The strength behind her command was overwhelming, but, angrily, Zero refused to obey. Within that very same instant, Zero summoned his vampire hunter powers and ripped apart the command from this high-level vampire woman.

Sosono blinked. _What?_ How in the world did that happen?

While Zero was many things, a natural-born vampire he was not! And that was one of many reasons as to why Level Ds were so looked down on in the Nightfall world. Level Ds weren't behooved to obey all the crappy rules inherent in true vampire hierarchy. They were outsiders and aliens to this world, thus they only had to obey the pureblood vampire that created them in the first place. Level Ds were ex-humans, first and foremost, and their inherent humanity would _always_ keep them apart.

And because Shizuka Hio was _long_ since dead, _**no one**_ could order _Zero Kiryu_ around like that! Plus, Zero was a _vampire hunter,_ and so he would sooner willingly rip out his finger nails then allow these pureblooded beasts to _command_ him!

Zero darkly grinned at her. "That's not going to work on me, lady." He spitefully hissed. The woman looked at him in sheer confusion, and Zero was lightly pleased at her obvious shock. However, Zero kept his gun aimed at her heart. She was obviously the more dangerous enemy here, but Zero still kept half of his attention on the other pureblood teen.

In spite of everything, this was still a very _bad_ situation.

How was he going to get out of this? Yuki was dying right behind him, and he had two purebloods preventing him from escaping.

What in the world could Zero do?

Zero didn't know _anything_ about this foreign woman, but one thing was shockingly clear to him. And that thing was - this woman wasn't the 'average' vampire pureblood.

Zero was weirdly _familiar_ with pureblood vampires. _Yuki_ was one, after all. And then there were Rido Kuran and Sara Shirabuki and that little blue-haired brat Giichi Toma...

But this foreign pureblood woman wasn't like any of them.

**Not at All**.

She was frighteningly _strong,_ but she felt _familiarly_ _**ancient**_.

Very familiar...

_Strangely_ familiar...

Like..._like_...

Zero's mind gradually spun to find a person in his memory he could compare this odd pureblood woman with. Within seconds, his quick mind locked on the least likely person.

_This person was like..._

As a consequence of thinking of him, Zero Kiryu's soul felt like it was instantaneously ripped in half.

_This person was like..._

_...Kaname_..._Kuran_...

Something inside Zero's mind twisted left, and his mind exploded with uncalled for hidden memories.

_**Kaname Kuran**_...

Zero felt his limbs start to shake.

A burning sensation started to form within his belly, and Zero knew he was going to be severely sick.

**Kaname Kuran**_**... **_

_Kuran stared at Zero for a long time, and then he shook his head as well. "Don't worry about me." He then lightly grinned. Zero wasn't entirely sure of the meaning behind such an action. "I won't be sad, __Zero__."_

Zero felt faint. The sickness within his belly moved from his stomach and crawled towards all four of his limbs.

**Kaname Kuran...was the man...**

_Kuran raised an elegant eyebrow, and Zero had a feeling he was getting frustrated with him. Ha! Like Zero even cared about something like that! "What is the book about?" Kuran lightly asked._

_Zero turned away from him, and amazingly, his neck flushed a bright red. Damn it! He should not be blushing! "It's a book about parenting." Goodness, Zero did not want to tell this guy he was playing bed sheet tango with his little sister! Why was he blushing?_

Zero's entire body started to shake, and his mind rapidly whirled with betraying pain.

Too many thoughts. Too many emotions. Too many memories were flooding his psyche at this moment!

Zero felt like he was hurting and breaking - and _**hurting**_ and _**breaking**_ - all over again.

**Kaname Kuran...was the man...who opened the door... **

_Zero still couldn't believe what his mind and soul were telling him. He reached toward him with a bloody hand. "Help me, Kaname."_

_Yet, Kuran took a revolted step back. "And allow you to have my happiness? Never." He cruelly said._

_**Kaname Kuran was the man who opened the door to his damaged darkness. **_

CRACK.

_And_ then he had been perpetually tortured, ceaselessly raped, everlastingly healed...

_However_...

At the end of it all...

He..._Zero Kiryu_...had _enthusiastically_..._destroyed_...

..._**Her**_...

CRACK. _CRACK_.

_**NO!**_

In an act of sheer stupidity, Zero dropped his gun like it was on fire. He quickly turned his back towards the two surprised purebloods and he reached towards the fallen girl behind him. As her bloody blond wig slipped of her head, he gently lifting up her head. Zero studied her face, and their eyes locked onto one other for the briefest of moments.

The girl had similar dark-brown eyes and a similar face, but...

This...

This _was_ _not_...

Zero felt like he was viciously punched in the gut.

"_You are not her."_ Zero painfully realized as the wounded young teen girl who smelt like vanilla and sweat peas looked at him with confused hurt.

**Not her. **

Zero felt terribly naked and exposed.

She could have never been _her_.

She could not have been because...

A chilling silence engulfed Zero's soul, but in the next moment - Zero's pure heart **died** a _**second time. **_

With the true understanding of what he had _done_, the black guilt of his newly remembered terrible sin ruptured his psyche. Zero's mind exploded into thousands of jagged and broken pieces.

_Did you forget the terrible sin you committed, true one?_ A small voice internally echoed. _Did you forget the reason for your self-imposed punishment?_

Zero remembered. And it broke him..._**again**_.

_**PAIN. **_

**TORMENT. **

_**AGONY. **_

**MISERY. **

_**SUFFURING**_**. **

It felt like ten thousand bloody thorns torn into his flesh all at once and ripped off his skin. Subsequently, words spoken to him - words formed to _**punish **_ him - screamed into his soul's internal chamber like a devilish invocation.

_~" The immaculate traitor has become perfectly corrupted.~_

_**Flash!**_ _"I love you, Zero Kiryu!" She once said. _**And he heard her and forever remembered. **

"_MURDEROUS BRETRAYER!" _

_**Flash!**_ Zero had the sudden vision of a bloody throat and drained female corpse.

_~ "The pure-hearted murderer is now a filthy work of art."~_

_**Flash!**__ "Zero! No! Please stop!" She cried. _**He heard and he could never ever forget.**

"_VILLAINOUS TRATIOR!"_

The old taste of past love's blood flooded his taste buds, and Zero felt his parched feverish throat _burn_. He wanted to foully vomit.

_~" The worst innocent betrayer has turned into the great contaminated creation.~_

_**Flash!**_ _Blood. Her blood. Lifeless dark-brown eyes._

"_CRAZY BROKEN BEAST!" _

In the chilling mental silence, Zero thought to himself. _By sword's blood__**,**_ _**I haven't suffered enough.**_

**Not enough did Zero suffer.**

_**Forever.**_

He should suffer _forever_ for the great crime he committed.

CRACK. _CRACK_. **CRACK**.

Zero's mind broke. His soul was ripped to pieces, and his violently heart died.

PUNISH! _PUNISH_! _**PUNISH!**_

In a dark vision, it seemed like thousands of chain-like thorns explode around him. Zero knew these thorns could not possibly be real. They were not part of the real world, but there were also not crazy hallucinations. But all the same, they wrapped themselves around his shaking body and torn into his trembling mind.

Even though these chain-like thorns were not real, they were the embodiment of what Zero knew he justly deserved.

Zero deserved to be... forever _punished_.

And then everything went black.

* * *

While Princess Juri Kuran was fighting to stay awake, she knew she only had a few moments left.

Silver... was... confusing her.

Juri saw the affection bites on his neck from her..._father_...but during the fight, Silver was calling her his fiancée numerous times!

So, was it any wonder that Juri was _really_ confused?

However, Silver Night was protecting her! Protecting her! Just like the knight she _knew_ he was! Juri felt so terrible happy about that so all the other thoughts she had about him was quickly put out of her mind. But then, without any warning, Silver dropped his gun, reached towards her, looked Juri in the eyes, and declared...

"_You are not her." He softly said. _

Silver looked like he was _breaking_ when he said that. And at that look, Juri's heart felt a terrible, _terrible_ pain.

Not her?

_Who was her?_

Silver's beautiful eyes continued to look at hers so strongly for a brief moment – his brilliant pure lavender orbs seemed to be breaking within - but suddenly he _collapsed_.

An odd silence occurred between the odd staircase group.

Then the injured Goog Song broke it by scratching his head nervously. "_Okay_..." He said. "Should I just kill him now, Sosono?" Goog stupidly asked.

Kill him?

Kill _Silver_?

**NO! **

Juri tightly grabbed onto the fallen Silver. "Don't harm him! If you do, you will regret it!" She threatened, but what a poor threat it was! Juri was about to lose consciousness as well and with no one here to help them...

However, the unknown woman's black eyes flashed. She closed her eyes to think. Too soon, Juri heard the sound of more people rushing up the stairways, but her little hopes were dashed when the three people who arrived nodded towards the unknown pureblood woman and the still confused Gook Song.

"Is that the princess, my lady?" An unknown new man said. "Can we take her now?"

Juri felt like crying! By darkness, Juri wouldn't be able to win! She was seeing spots now, and they were going to kill Silver and take her somewhere and –

But the unknown woman darkly smiled as she reopened her black-red eyes. "Take _both_ of them." Her black eyes darted between Juri and Silver. "Let's make it _three_ token pieces."

And Juri whimpered.

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N: **What? :D You thought Yuki was going to met Zero so easily? X3 I felt so bad when a lot of my good readers immediately thought it was her in the last chapter! *_* However, the first meeting I have planned between Zero and Yuki is a bit more... _powerful_...then that! ;D What a surprise that will be when it finally happens, though! (Insert: Nervous author laugh!)

Still, this arc is just beginning folks! XD Hold on to your hats! There will be a few major twists and turns in it, but it is all for future plot development! XD After all, Kaname and Yuki can't have their various plans go so _easily_ now, can they? XD However, I _have_ given you guys some _small _ hints as to what may happen in this arc in a lot of my _past_ chapters! ;D Still, I hope you all will be _very_ surprised for this arc! :)

Also, to answer a few questions I got...Yes, there still will be lemons between Kaname and Zero/Silver in this story. Actually, there are two lemons currently in the works. The one at the end of this arc, between Kaname and Silver, is very..._romantic_...I'll say. (Well, that's what I'm going for with it! 0_0) However, the _first_ one between Kaname and renewed Zero in the arc after this kidnapping one is far more..._intense_... (It's not BSDM, though! 0_0') Still, Zero will be very...darkly..._dominating_...in that one...I believe. (Loudly coughs!)

Still, hints and foreshadowing abound in this tale of mine! XD Anyway,_** thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long – I love them all!**_


	66. Chapter 65 Kidnapping, Part III

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

The four Korean rebels, Sosono, Goog Song, and the newly arrived Min Chan Kim and Goog's father, Joon Ho Song, quickly made their way down to Sosono's transport portal that was located on the 36th floor of the King's Red Building.

Princess Juri Kuran had tried to put up another fight, but with Wang's special pureblood poison working in her system, she was as harmless as a worm. Min Chan put her to sleep and placed her into Goog Song's waiting arms. During this, the cold and frosty Min Chan Kim picked up the unknown long silver-haired man and after accessing the man, he came to solution of scooping him up and tightly holding the him to his cold chest.

Nonetheless, the icy Min Chan was slightly unsettled by this arrangement.

_Why exactly are they taking him also? _

Despite the various scratches, cuts, and blood on the man's face and body, Min Chan was greatly impressed by this unknown man's physical characteristics. As Min Chan tightly held him, he felt the man's long silver hair slid gently across his right arm. The sleeping man's hair felt like the richest of silks, and the scent of sandalwood and roses was overpowering Min Chan's nose. Notwithstanding the man's clothing, Min Chan could feel his smooth muscle and warm flesh on his icy palms and long fingers. The man's eyes were sadly closed (For some strange reason, Min Chan had the irrational desire to suddenly _see_ them!), but the silver-haired man's eyelashes were extremely long and whisky. Like a delicate pixie. They curled and shadowed his symmetry face, and his ruby-red lips look extremely..._**inviting.**_

This unknown sleeping man was _extraordinarily_ _**seductive**_.

Min Chan was silently amazed.

_Who was he? _

Vampires, in general, were very beautiful creatures. One would be hard pressed to find a vampire that was ugly. Still, the fact remained, that vampires were the beautiful creatures that dotted and decorated the dark skies of the Nightfall World. However, _this_ person wasn't just another simply beautiful nightfall creature. _No_, he was far, _far_ more than that!

He was like a breathing work of art.

Min Chan was astonished. _Who is this mysterious silver-haired man?_

If this person looked so tempting - and so delicious - even with all the scratches and superficial wounds on him, what did he look like when he was at his _best_?

His dark inner beast stirred within him. Min Chan was startled at his inner beast's uncommon interest in this unknown unconscious person. As the Chief Warden of Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island, he was naturally a harden and a brutal person. Few things, if anything, could shake him. However, he had always been weak against pleasure and the darkly seductive touches of wanton lust. Still, few creatures could stir his emotions, much less his loins. Therefore, it was quite surprising, to him at least, that this person who he had just learned of five minutes ago, and who hadn't even spoken one word to him, could excite him _so_ easily.

Who really was this man?

Yet, all too soon, the four rebels and their two unconscious victims, arrived at Sosono's intra-transport portal. While the transport portal was hard to accurately describe, the best way to describe it was that it was like a large black twirling mist cloud. Min Chan's stomach twisted. He wasn't looking forward to using this method of travel having never used it before.

Sosono was greatly pleased with the fact that she had a new _third_ bargaining piece for her various plots. Still, she was slightly annoyed. After all, Sosono's power of transport portals was extremely taxing on her body and mind. She was limited to opening up three such portals per a year. She would have to use one to get the prince, and she had already used one to get the princess. So, at the end of the night, she would be limited to one portal for the rest of the entire year.

Sosono tightly pressed her lips together and she gave the young Goog Song a dark look.

It was all this worthless fool's fault!

Notwithstanding, in no way, shape, or form would Sosono use her last transport portal for this plan to work. Not at all. Sosono was nothing if not cruelly practical. Therefore, in the event that something went wrong, she needed a way of escape. While her great dream of crushing the Kuran Royal House and becoming the new ruler of this vampire kingdom was her ultimate wish, Sosono would sooner open the gates of hell than be trapped in another _Tomb of the Forsaken_ if her schemes and plots failed, or she was caught red-handed by the enemy.

**The Tomb of the Forsaken. **

Sosono nearly _shuddered_ at the horrible thought.

The _Tomb of the Forsaken_ was one of the worst type of punishments that could be inflicted on a pureblood vampire. It was really the ultimate type of punishment for their kind, and Sosono had endured it for thousands upon thousands of years when her last rebellion against the first Kuran ruler failed miserably.

A Tomb of the Forsaken would force a pureblood vampire to live within it in a state of empty _stasis_, snd because pureblood vampires could naturally live for countless millennias, such a punishment was meant to be eternally permanent. Thus, trapped within its metal box prison, the poor purebloods who were forced into it would be unable to move or breath. It was like living death – a half-live. One would neither be fully alive nor fully dead and while their body would be perfectly preserved, their minds would not be. That poor punished soul was completely abandoned in that Tomb's vile clutches, and no outside person could reach them or give the trapped victim a warm touch. Because of that isolated loneliness, a torturous madness would consume the punished soul, but even at – the trapped victim could never _die_.

The only thing that could open and free a victim of the Tomb of the Forsaken was the sacrificing blood of one of the victim's family member. While Sosono had no child of hers, her ancient siblings had, and through their descendants and Wan Hoo Kim's ruthless desires, Sosono had finally been freed from such a terrible endless fate. However, that punishment wasn't the end of it! The last vicious curse of the Tomb of the Forsaken was the forced servitude of the newly freed victim to the one who freed them.

The Great Sosono was, in a very sad sense, nothing more than the mere _bond-servant_ to the cold Wan Hoo Kim. It was quite ironic. If Sosono was truly _free_, she could easily crush all these worthless and low-level pureblood pawns of her _so_ easily. However, the ancient charms prevent that, thus Sosono kept the true level of her power a bitter secret.

But one day she was going to _murder_ Wan Hoo Kim. Unfortunately, Sosono needed the help of her two sons, the Korean Royal Governor, Byung Gi Kim, and the Chief Warden of Sing Sing, Min Chan Kim. Those two were important pawns to her future goals and murdering _their_ mother would _not_ be in _her_ best interest.

For now at least.

Sosono smirked to herself. _Never trust a scorned woman! We are quite tricky!_

Still, as Sosono looked at the young Gook Soog, she felt like rolling her black eyes.

This worthless fool! How exactly was he going to approach the prince looking like that? Sosono hissed her teeth. While the boy didn't look greatly injured, he still had a few facial cuts and bruises! Yet nothing could be done about it now!

Sosono heaved a great sigh.

Looking at the worthless boy, Sosono said, "Go to the White Queen's Building, Goog." She barked. " We need to get the prince as soon as possible! And we have no time!"

The boy had the nerve to roll his eyes at her.

Sosono hissed." Make sure you inject him with Wang's poison before you get him to Soo Bin and Im Dae. They will be the ones to get him to the courtyard."

Sighing, Sosono watched as the annoying brat pouted at her as he gave the unconscious princess to his father to carry. _Don't kill. Don't kill now._ Sosono thought to herself. "After the distraction, make sure you do your part to ensure that they don't understand what we are _really_ after. We need some time to get our prizes to the escape sea port." Sosono glared. "Do not mess up that critical part, boy!"

"Yeah, _yeah_, you _old_ hag." Goog promptly waved her off. "I got the princess, so it will be a piece of cake to get the stupid prince!"

Sosono's eyebrow twitched. Perhaps Wan Hoo Kim needed a _partner_ to accompany her to her future death? _Yes_. Yes, she did. And this rude boy would do _so nicely._

But not yet.

Goog hurriedly took off, and Sosono irately looked at her reminding pawns. "Let's go." She said, and they all followed after her into the dark twisting mist.

* * *

**Chapter 65: Kidnapping, Part III **

* * *

**Present**

It seems like the Noble Sukakasi Line and Pureblood Kuran Line have met again.

Sakusei's pale lips twisted with dark amusement.

As one of the Lords of the Vampire Underworld and a Master of Illusion, Sakusei Sukakasi relaxed back in his leather desk armchair. He closed his sharp silver eyes as his two large pearl hoop earrings dancingly gleamed in the fireplace light.

My, my - what a wondrous, _fabulous_, and _**tremendous**_ opportunity to _befall_ him.

The Queen's Dark hand, Yoshiro Yamamoto, had departed from his company many hours ago. However, he had yet to start on his new task. But honestly, who would have thought that a notorious business man and obvious underground vampire criminal like him would be 'in service' to the noble royal house? Something was darkly _ironic_ about that, but then _not_ quite.

After all, didn't his older late brother Masashi Sukakasi do the same thing?

Sakusei coldly smirked.

Oh yes, _indeed_, Masashi-nisan did.

Sukusei cold silver eyes snapped open with amused remembered glee.

His late older brother formed a little alliance with the current Far Eastern King almost a century ago. At the time, the King had been a powerful person, but he lacked the connection and allies he needed in order to form and grow his kingdom. Masashi had expertly provided the King with the crucial information and connections he needed, and that was one of the many reasons why King Kuran's power had grown so great in such a shockingly short amount of time.

The legit and legal world would have never given King Kuran the chance to develop so quickly. However, that power he attained wasn't without a price. After all, Masashi-nisan was nothing if not the _best_ of businessman, and in exchange for his information, Masashi-nisan had demanded the reestablishment of Doll Possession. Strangely, King Kuran lightly agreed to it.

Sakusei shook his head. What a thing to ask! If Sakusei could be honest with himself (which was rare), he did greatly admire his late brother's ability for foresight. While the talent was something that was prominent in the criminal Sukakaei line, Masashi-nisan's ability to see what others could not wasn't explainable.

Masashi-nisan had learned of the practice in old vampire texts, and knowing how increasingly disconnected vampire society was to current times, he wisely made his various moves to establish the practice and custom.

_**Dolls. **_

_Humph_. Sakusei smirked again to himself.

Dolls were like the _best_ type of pets a vampire could ever have. Dolls were perfect for a vampire's enjoyment. They were generally extremely attractive in appearance and usually very energetic in their personalities. Dolls provided companionship to those that did not have adequate social interaction, and by having them, they allowed their owners to feel connected to _life_ _itself_.

So, was it any wonder that nearly all Dolls were once _humans_?

As creatures of the Day World, human were almost _handcrafted_ to be a vampire's _perfect_ _pet_. Due to the their kind's obvious stagnation, the changes that humans lived through were _too_ addicting. They were so passionate and varied, so adventurous and so open to change, that a typical long-lived vampire would be swept away by such a creature's itch for life.

And the desire to cage and claim such precious creatures _permanently_ is a _natural_ desire that nearly all vampires haves. Vampires did not lose or let go of their valued things and people. _**Never**_. After all, the emotion of extreme possessiveness was universally understood and highly regarded by the Nightfall World's inhabitants(as the other dark virtue of the _power_ of **one's selfishness)**.

_You belong to me. _

_This is mine._

_I possess this._

_**I own you. **_

To the human ear, such words would be _insulting_. However, to a _vampire_...one could almost say it was a form of endearment! _Ha!_ _**Endearment**_! Sukusei's cold smirk turned into a dark grin. While vampires were _many_ things, they were _also_ the type of creatures that could happily destroy a precious possession of theirs if they could not perfectly _keep_ and _cage_ it. Perhaps that was why the statistics for Doll survival were so _low_. Vampires could very easily destroy their precious possessions over the _slightest_ of things.

Sukusei nearly laughed. So, it was a very good thing indeed that human beings were so _numerous_. How many were there now – 10 billion and growing? Clearly, the supply was _endless_.

Still, the late Masashi-nisan taught himself how to create the _first_ Doll of vampire modern times. And, ironically, that first Doll was _still_ the Number One Doll of All Times, _Silver Night_.

Sukusei's eyes nearly watered at the thought.

_**Damn**_, _**Masashi-nisan!**_

Sukusei had met Silver Night only _once_, and to make a long story short, Sukusei had plotted to murder his late brother, so _he_ could have the glorious creature for _himself_. (Well, they weren't really that _close_, you know?) Nevertheless, in the end, Masashi-nisan had been able to outsmart him, and during his death, the Master-Doll bonds of Silver Night were passed on to one of his stooges in order to _spite_ him...and the rest, they say, was _history_.

To this day, the loss _still_ enraged Sukusei.

Yet, Sukusei kept up on Silver Night's various owners. And the stories were quite something. My, my, what a glorious destroyer that Silver Night was! One would think his past would keep vampires _away_ from him, but there was _something_ about Silver Night that drew vampires to him like bees to honey.

The man was like ultimate pleasure and deadly pain _personified_.

Still, despite inheriting Masashi-nisan's great Doll Empire, Sukusei had yet to make a Doll just _like_ him. While Masashi-nisan's gathered knowledge was the basis of the current Doll Creation System of today, _how_ he created _Silver Night_ would forever remain a deep mystery.

Nevertheless, as the late Masashi-nisan worked for the King, _Sakusei_ would work for the _Queen_.

My, _my_. History certainly is circular.

And what an odd request his Pureblood Queen had.

She wanted him to contact and break out the one of Underground World's Top Assassin, Kenichi Daisuki, from Sing _Sing Vampire Prisoner Island_.

What a request! Sukusei was both impressed and nervous by such daring!

Still, by darkness, Sakusei never thought he would see his fellow brother's murderer _again,_ and it such an _unusual_ way!

**Yet there was **_**nothing**_** that **_**could not be purchased.**_

So, Sakusei decided to start his scheming.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

Lord Akatsuki Kain was speechless.

Something very terrible was happening.

As Akatsuki looked at the various security display screens in front of him, he saw that the Military-Grade Energy Shield #10110 which was located in the fourth emergency staircase of the Red Wing of the King Imperial Building had been completely destroyed.

Akatsuki silently stared at his monitor in abject shock.

He set up various energy shields around the King's building as a standard precaution. However, Akatsuki inherently knew that there were few people in this dark world who had the sheer _gall_ to try an assignation attempt on King Kaname Kuran. Few people were that stupid, indeed. And the fact that the King wasn't in the best of moods (obviously due to his current divorce trials), Akatsuki had little hope that there would be some major disturbance he would have to solve.

After all, what sane person would deliberately go after an _already_ angry pureblood vampire ruler? Wouldn't it be better for such an attacker to simply jump of the nearest bridge? Doing _that_ would at least make the entire affair less messy!

Still, one of Kain's energy shields was destroyed! And it wasn't just any shield! It was the very shield that he set up to prevent any unfavorable 'visitors' from accessing King Kuran's private quarters!

_What in the world?_

Was there an assignation attempt on King Kuran's life currently occurring?

Akatsuki leaped out of his chair and sounded the alarm.

* * *

_**Meantime, In the Queen's White Building...**_

For some strange reason, Prince Haruka Kuran had a bad feeling.

On the other hand, his two best friends didn't seem to share that bad feeling.

"I say we _stiff_ him on the tip." Isamu Aido growled as he glared daggers at their slow-serving waiter who was merrily talking to some hidden person in the far-off server hallway. "Why the _hell_ is it taking so long for us to get our food?"

"Don't talk so loud, Isamu!' Genji Ichijo hissed. "Don't make our server angry! He could spit in our food!"

"Shut it, Genji." Isamu growled at him. His hungry stomach mightily roared. "You damn apologist!" His stomach started to cramp. "It should _not_ take this long to bring us our food!" He rolled his hazel eyes. "This is the _crappiest_ restaurant I've ever been to, and I've been to a _lot_ of crappy ones!"

Genji tiredly sighed. "You can't just _say_ that! You don't even know –"

Haruka carefully switched off his brain.

He was _not_ in the mood right now to hear those two _arguing_. However, Genji Ichijo and Isamu Aido could carry on the argument quite find without him, for the time being, so, Haruka used their cankerous voices as the background music of his currently confused feelings and blank thoughts.

Still, Haruka was _unnerved_. His _instincts_ seemed to be telling him that something..._wasn't_..._quite_..._**right**_.

How strange.

Haruka had experienced these weird 'bad feelings' before. He would _always_ get these feeling whenever his arch-rival, Korean Pureblood Goog Soog (May he forever _rot_ in the 10th level of Hell!), would 'pay him a visit' back in his old Cross Academy days. Haruka and Goog Song had a hate-and-more-hate type of relationship. That conceited jackass always did and say the worst of things to piss him off and insult his being. Haruka couldn't wait for the day when karma kicked the living snot out of that vile punk's ass!

Still, on a serious note, the other time that Haruka had one of these 'bad feeling moments' was the time when his mother got attacked last year by those assassins. He also had another one just before his mother told him about the her divorce.

So, all in all, Haruka always paid _attention_ to his gut. It had _never_ stirred him wrong before and -

Well, speak of the devil.

Out of the blue, the Korean Pureblood, Goog Song, boastfully sauntered over to his table. Haruka could see a few minor scratches and cuts on his face, and a small part of him felt _pleased_. Serves him right! While a great bully, Goog also moonlighted as a vile player! Haruka _really_ disliked the guy! He probably got those scratches from some poor girl he viciously hurt! But why couldn't that chick have taken out one of his eyeballs? If she did, Goog wouldn't be able to even _look_ at _his_ _sister_ again!

While Haruka knew Juri was an airheaded girly idiot, no one deserved a jerk like _Goog_ in their lives. It was like having a living smelly dog turd constantly around you!

Isamu and Genji stopped their mild argument over the food and watched the approaching foreign pureblood male. Oh, boy. _Not him!_ While Haruka darkly glared at the coming pureblood teen, Isamu massaged his forehead and Genji sadly shook his head.

This wasn't going to end well.

"Well, if it isn't the _Bastard Prince!_" Goog lowly insulted. "How's things with your family, Hary?"

Haruka's dark-brown eyes violently flashed. "_Go away_, Goog!" He hissed. "I don't have the patience to deal with your epic level of stupidity right now!"

"Epic level of stupidity?" Goog repeated. Then he rolled his eyes. "What are you, in first grade or something?"

Haruka squeezed his fists tightly. Oh, he _so_ wanted to give this prick a good punch in the face! However, Haruka _did_ _not_ want to cause a scene. His family was already in deep as it was, and he didn't want to add _more_ to that!

"Just go away, Goog!" Haruka hissed again.

But the Korean pureblood ignored him. "But speaking of 'epic levels of stupidity', wouldn't _your __**mom**_ be the _winner_ on that?" Goog mockingly smirked. "Who would have thought that Suzi was _so_ right!" He mockingly pouted. "'_The Great Whore of the Far East_' is a _proper_ title for your **_slutty mommy_**, Hary."

In an instant, Haruka saw _**red**_.

"_**I'm going to kill you!"**_ Haruka said as he leaped out of his chair and slammed a vicious punch into Goog's right eye. "How _dare_ you say that about my mother! How freaking dare you, you worthless asshole!" He pulled up his left fist to punch again!

Genji and Isamu leaped from their chairs and tried to hold him back. Somehow, the two young nobles managed to, but it wouldn't work for long.

"Get the fuck outta here, ya shit drip!" Isamu hissed at Goog. Damn it! A noble and a dhumpire vampire were no match for _two_ feuding purebloods! They could be ripped to pieces if they tried any harder to stop this!

But Goog massaged his painful jaw. "As weak as ever, Prince Bastard." He fibbed as he rubbed his aching jaw. "Are you sure you really are King Kuran's _real_ son? After all, for such a weak bastard like you to come outta him is a _damn_ shame." Goog's black eyes suddenly darkly gleamed. "Maybe you are a bastard _for real_?" Haruka stared at him in shock, but Goog pressed on. "Perhaps _that_ is why your father _despises_ you so! Perhaps he knows you're actually the product of your slut-mom's various _hidden_ affairs!"

A crushing black silent engulfed the four vampire teen boys.

"Oh, shit." Isamu wearily said.

"Darkness damn." Genji heavily sighed.

And the shade of red that Haruka instantaneously saw was _**bloody**_ _**crimson**_.

Like a raging lion, Haruka threw his two friends off himself and launched himself at Goog. Haruka's rocky relationship with his father was a dangerous bomb, and Goog mindlessly detonated it. So, like a terribly angry (and extremely hurt) lion cub, Haruka used every limb he had to pound his enemy into the ground.

Roundhouse kicks and uppercut punches were unleashed.

Body slams and tricky trips went wild.

Every fighting technique Haruka ever learned was being 'practiced' on the awful foreign pureblood. Unfortunately, Goog was also a skilled fighter and Haruka was getting his share of bruises as well. Too soon, the two young pureblood males were on the floor, and were nothing more than a vicious tangle of rage, limbs, blood, and spit.

But, unpredictably, Haruka felt a sharp _stabbing_ pain in his stomach. Surprised, Haruka looked down and saw a needle with an oddly-colored liquid stick out of his stomach.

_What the hell?_

Underneath him, Goog widely smirked and viciously injected the unknown liquid within him.

Again, _what the hell?_

Haruka instantly pushed the vile boy away from him and stood up. He clutched his stomach and felt fresh hot blood pour over his nibble but shaky fingers.

"HARUKA!" Genji yelled in fright.

Haruka angrily stared at Goog. "You cheating son of a –" He started to say, but the royal pureblood teen suddenly felt...very, _very_ _**woozy**_.

"What the hell did you do, Goog?" Isamu panicked. "Haruka! What's wrong?"

Yet, Goog Song put on a big smirk on his face.

**Victory**.

It was almost _too_ _easy_.

"You _definitely_ couldn't be King Kuran's _real_ son." Goog grinned. "A _real_ _son_ of _his_ would have seen this coming." Goog held up his two fingers together and snapped them four times. "_And it has only just begun_." He enigmatically forewarned.

And the last thing Haruka saw was... _**gas and fire**_.

**To be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Poor Haruka! XD He never catches a break!

Nevertheless, I'm been thinking of starting a few new shorter fan fic stories for VK as my plot bunnies had gone wild and are quite distracting! XD One idea is strictly a KxZ, while another is strictly a ZxY. X3 (This fic, however, is still up in the air for the ending pairing! Sorry! ;D)

But don't worry! I have no plans to stop Silver Night for those stories though! It's just something in my head at the moment. (Still, Silver Night, with all its twist-ness goodness is somewhat draining! 0.0 Goodness, I shouldn't have made this story so intense but also so complicated. 0_0 The end of this fic is long in coming, folks! So, sorry! *_*)

Well, Happy V-Day, my readers! This is my gift to you today! XD So, gift me with _**a review!**_ ;3


	67. Chapter 66 Kidnapping, Part IV

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

_**...SEVERE..**_

_**...PAIN...**_

It was the only thing Prince Haruka Kuran understood at this moment.

Haruka could not see, but he could feel himself heavily bleeding. The toxic black smoke made his dark-brown eyes water, and he could feel large crack pieces of his burned flesh fall off him. His clothes were ragged pieces that limply hung off his body, and he could feel various pieces of tables, chairs, and silverware surround his aching body.

Haruka could only feel pain, _pain_, _**pain**_...and he couldn't really scream or cry to verbalize his misery.

_Mom...where are you?_ Haruka listlessly thought. _Dad...help...me...please..._

_Genji... Isamu... _

Where were _they_? If _he_ could feel such terrible pain as a pureblood, then, what about _them_?

"Prince Haruka?" A male voice he didn't know called to him. "Prince Haruka?"

Haruka couldn't answer him. Heck, Haruka could not even _move_. However, what was frightening about this bad position of his was that not only was he in severe pain, it didn't seem like he was _healing_ at all.

Pureblood healing abilities were _legendary_, so why...

Haruka's eyes focused a bit and through the blurry images, Haruka could see his _waiter_...

How?

How could he have...survived...this?

But it felt like his waiter was smiling nasty to him...

A great fear was added to Haruka's great pain. "I have your order now, _Prince_." The waiter's voice and aura seemed to instantly change.

**A fellow pureblood vampire...**

A fellow pureblood was _here_...

And he was injured...and he..._and he couldn't_...

Without any introduction, another pureblood vampire appeared before Haruka's dying eyes, but he couldn't do anything about it. By darkness, Haruka was _so_ tired. He felt extremely _sleepy_. Perhaps he could take a small nap, and all these terrible things would _go away?_ Haruka felt dizzy and _sleepy_ and _**tired**_ and...

Soo Bin Han and Im Dae Han looked down on the injured prince.

The boy did not look good.

Im Dae slapped his forehead. "Did you inject him with Wang's poison?"

"Of course, I did!" A mildly injured Goog Song snapped back. "He is as harmless as a paper dove, right now." Goog smirked, but then he frowned. "But take him and get out of here!" He snapped. "I don't want that old bitch crab after me, and I still got to throw the Royals off you guy's tracks!"

Im Dae nodded his agreement and reach to pick up the injured prince. However, his brother rolled his bright-red eyes and made a small snort. "I think _we_ know the _plan_, smelly brat." Soo Bin dismissively hissed.

Haruka was terrible confused. That third voice sounded like _Goog_...but..**what**?

How was _Goog_ okay after this terrible explosion, and _he_ wasn't? Haruka wondered but before he could think some more, he felt strange hands grab a hold of him and throw him over a shoulder like he was a bag of potatoes. His stomach was sharply pressed against a harsh shoulder, and his forehead slammed against an iron back. His legs dangled, and Haruka felt like sleeping forever.

Soo Bin rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers four times. "I've removed my shields on you, brat." Goog blinked at him in confusion. Soo Bin evilly smirked and without any warning, the foreign older pureblood _punched_ Goog right in the face.

Goog plummeted to the ground. "What the hell was that for, you asshole?" Goog screamed.

"For your alibi, brat." The older pureblood snapped. "We can't well blame the Mongolians, if you look _okay_!" Soo Bin waved him off. "Come along now, Im Dae. _We_ have _things_ to do." He sauntered off.

Im Dae held in his frustration but started following after him.

A terrible silence descended on Haruka's mind at this moment.

All the writing was on the wall.

He was _dying_. He was being taking by _enemies_. And he had _no_ idea why.

_...Mom_...

_...Dad_...

..._Mr. Silver_...

_Please_..._Help_..._Me_...

However, Haruka knew that his life from this moment onwards would be a new type of hell.

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-Six: Kidnapping, Part IV **

* * *

**Present (Moments Before)**

"I have given Lord Ichijo your message, your highness." Kai Ryunei, Kaname's top outer court executive assistant, said lightly with a low bow. "He will contact me when he finally arranges the meeting you want with the Queen."

"I see." King Kaname Kuran nodded his head. He causally waved his dismissal to his loyal assistant, and in less than a second Kai left his presence.

All alone in his office, Kaname felt slightly... _**troubled**_.

And he didn't know why.

Of course, his soon-coming meeting with Yuki was going to be very intense and full of surprises. After all, he was going to reveal her past love's _living_ existence to her during this conference. However, Kaname was both gleeful _and_ distressed about this. Because, in spite of everything, Kaname wasn't sure _how_ Yuki would react when she learned that not only was her past love still _alive_, but he was alive as a completely different person then what _she_ remembered.

Silver Night.

Zero Kiryu.

Silver Night was Zero Kiryu.

Zero Kiryu was Silver Night.

No matter how many times Kaname thought about it – that fact _still_ made him confused and leery. In spite of everything, the fact that his perfect lover was once his _bitterest_ of not-exact-enemies-nor-servant-nor-ally, was something that Kaname was _increasing_ becoming uncomfortable with despite his intense desire to _never_ let that person go.

Kaname was not exactly sure of his emotions, but he knew enough about them that he knew he had formed a dangerously extreme and possessive _attachment_ to the beautiful silver-haired man. He knew of his dangerous attachment to him for the _longest_ of times, and, instead of **fighting it**, it was almost as if he had _increased_ his _furor_ for him. And this furor of his was _so_ deep and _so_ utterly consuming that Kaname _knew_ he could never free himself entirely from it. He did not want to give a name to the emotion that he was feeling towards the man, but it was almost as if he had heedlessly fallen into a seductive web, but, strangely, he had _no_ desire to liberate himself from his spidery bindings.

Kaname could say that his three closest connections were Yuki, Silver, and Juri. _Why?_ Well, Yuki _understood_ him best. Silver _accepted_ him best. And Juri _trusted_ him best. Those three individuals were extremely _precious_ to him because of it, and he did not _ever_ want to do without them.

And he _didn't_ have to be. Kaname _didn't_ have to be _without_ them.

He could and would have them _all_.

_Why? _

Because he had the _**power**_ to.

And that was really the end of it – the only reason Kaname _needed_.

Therefore, Kaname was simply going to do _all_ he could to keep _his_ Silver and have _his_ Yuki because Kaname firmly believed that he _deserved_ to have them. This next meeting with his wife would be the beginning to his true end goal, and by the right of power, those two would _only_ be his. He would have them _both_ if it was the last thing he ever did.

Perhaps, if Kaname had not been as powerful a force he currently was, then perhaps he would have been forced to compromise or at least _heed_ to the wishes of those around him. _But_ _that was not the case._

To the victor goes the spoils.

Kaname had worked and _suffered_ to get everything he had today. He had fought, plotted, allied, bled, torn apart, built up, planned, and endured trial, after _trial_, after _**trial**_. His methods were cruel and his actions were barbarous, but it was by these things that he achieved his _greatness_.

His people were respected around the globe, and were not exploited by other foreign powers or influences. His kingdom was growing, and its economy was booming. The society he created was bursting with creative energy in the various arts, social graces, and sciences. And most importantly of all, his beloved family was privileged, protected, honored, and highly respected.

If Kaname had not cultivated his control, strengthen his authority, and increased his influence, he logically knew that he would have never been able to get and keep all that he had at the moment.

Therefore, Kaname would _never_ compromise on his desire or will to take and have...because without it, he would have and **be** _**nothing**_.

And 'compromise' was something that the _powerless_ did, and if one thing could be said about _Kaname_ was that _he_ was _far_ from being _powerless_.

**Power. **

Power was the _most_ important things to Kaname - and he wasn't afraid to _admit_ that.

**Power**.

It was the _only_ thing that was truly important in this dark and dying world because without it one would lose _everything_ and _anything_ they had.

Power enabled one to gain allies and friends. Power enabled him to create wealth and establish national propensity. Power kept his land and nation free from invaders.

Power kept his family and love ones safe.

And his _only_ son, _his_ child, _his_ heir – Haruka - _refused_ to try to gain it!

Kaname darkly frowned to himself. That fact was something that he was continuously _ashamed_ of.

Haruka Kuran, his only son and royal heir, did _nothing_ to gain or exercise his power!

Kaname was so _frustrated_ with the boy that he was nearing his limit with him.

And what made it worst was that Kaname _knew_ the boy had the talents. _He knew. _But that was why it made his disappointments with him so much more..._bitter_. He knew of his son's potential, but like the proverb of old, one could take a horse to water, yet one couldn't force that horse to drink it. (And not only had Kaname guided that horse, but he freed it from _any_ burdens, kept him in the most _luxurious_ of places, and provided him the _best_ _water_ one could ever give a rotten horse.)

By darkness, _what went wrong?_ What went wrong with him and his son?

Time and time again, Kaname tried to teach his wayward son the importance of power. His lessons always ended in a familiar line. _"Remember this, Haruka." _Kaname would say._ "__You only have rights by your power. Therefore, don't expect to be pleased before you achieve that need. You must cultivate fear in your enemies in order keep your power, and you must always ensure that you gather still more power! Because __**only**__ by having the __**most**__ power will you be able to keep and have __**everything**__ you want."_

Yet Haruka _never seemed _to take his lessons and words _seriously_.

And that fact always made Kaname..._**hurt**_.

Haruka was a lot like him in many ways, but in other ways, the boy was _nothing_ like him.

Kaname was utterly _confused_ as to why that was the case.

What caused his son to be so weak and cowardly? What _was_ the cause? Perhaps this was _also_ Yuki's fault? She always did coddle the boy and, darkness forbid, would sometimes actually _encourage_ Haruka's _gentler_ nature and tendencies.

Kaname always felt totally disrespected when his wife did that.

Here he was, trying to instruct and raise his son in a manner that would make him truly _succeed_ in this dark world, and _she_ would undercut _everything_ he did.

Haruka would always run to his mother for comfort when Kaname would exercise his discipline on him, and at times, Kaname always felt like the two were against him even when he was doing his best.

Kaname pressed his lips tightly together.

While he deeply cared for his male child, Haruka was _also_ his royal heir.

So before Kaname was a father, he was a _ruler_, and before Haruka was a son, he was an _heir_. _This_ was something he could never escape from and thus Haruka had the _responsibility_ to be the best royal heir one could possibly be. In a few more centuries, Kaname would lose his inner circle. (Noble vampires _did_ die naturally, after all.) Thus, _Haruka_ would need to be his Kingly Arm (like Takuma or Hanabusa currently was).

But Haruka seemed to make _no_ self-preparations for such important responsibilities!

Then when you compound that lack of discipline to self-improvement with Haruka's _inherited_ character faults and Kaname felt..._depressed..._for the boy's future.

In order to rule, one _could not_ allow things like mercy, gentleness, or care influence his decisions. Kings and rulers of the past have _destroyed_ their nations and peoples over such _pathetic_ thing, and Kaname would _not_ allow _his legacy_ to be destroyed by such _weak_ things.

Haruka was _too_ soft.

Too soft and too gentle.

Just like...

_Just like..._

_Just like_...**his **_**original**_** first self so long ago. **

A sharp pain dug itself inside Kaname's chest. _That_ was the reason behind everything. That was the reason why he was so frustrated and angry and..._resentful_... of his son's ways.

Haruka's character and personality remanded him of sad and _terrible_ things. Every time he looked at his son, and he saw the weaknesses in him that _he_ once had, Kaname would be bitterly forced to remember the numerous mistakes from his dark past that cost him _incalculable_ loses.

Lost. _Lost_. **Lost**.

Lose. _Lose_. **Lose**.

_Always keep losing, Kaname. _

Haruka was a _living_ remainder to Kaname of what he was like during those terrible _first_ times. He was outspoken, high-spirited, blunt and somewhat innocently mischievous. He was carefree and careless. While he had always known he was 'different', he had carried on with his life without a shred of care for what tomorrow would bring. He cared not for plans, for power, or for plots. Kaname once was innocent and free and full of so many, _many_ faults.

And because of that...Kaname's first world was _burned_ to the ashy-black ground.

Burned to the ground by those who had the _power_ and _whim_ to do so.

Haruka's numerous faults and failings painfully remanded Kaname of his first lost life and the second lost life of after. Lives ripped apart because of his lack of true power.

Kaname wanted to erase that failing in his son. He wanted the boy to _never_ experience what he had gone through.

But Haruka was _so_ stubborn.

Whenever Haruka failed to crush an enemy or showed a bit of mercy to a weaker soul, Kaname's heart would blaze with a dark fear at the revelation of his past and present weakness.

Of course, Kaname would say cruel words at Haruka. He hoped such bitter words would encourage the child to do _better_. He would also not lay eyes on him for weeks. After all, Kaname wanted Haruka to _reflect_ and _not_ do such _stupid_ things again in the future!

But he always did.

Haruka _always_ repeated the same stupidly kind mistakes.

So, Kaname tried different tactics.

_"If you want my affections, then grow your power, Haruka." _Kaname would repeated that line to him time and time again in order to _encourage_ the boy to develop the necessary skills one needed to have in order to rule. Don't sons _want_ to please their fathers? He certainly did when he was at that age!

But Haruka stubbornly clung to _useless_ emotions.

So, Kaname tried _another_ tactic.

He looked for a possible _rival_ for his son and Kaname had seen one in the form of the young Korean pureblood, Goog Song. But even this tactic seemed to be an utter failure.

Oh, Kaname knew of the boy, and his son's terrible relationship with him. (Well, Kaname knew nearly everything that went on it his court, _usually_.) That foreign pureblood was a terrible thorn on his son's backside, and Kaname had heard of Haruka grumble numerous times about that 'Korean asshole bully'. Yet, Kaname did nothing to help him.

Why?

Because Kaname _hoped_ that by having such an 'enemy', Haruka would learn to exercise his power and better his skills at rulership. Rivals were powerful pieces to shaping one's character and skills, and a diamond could only be shaped by another diamond.

Kaname had many rivals in _his_ day, and they shaped him into what he was today.

_And **Zero Kiryu** was **Kaname's most memorable one.**_

Kaname blinked.

_Where in the world did that out-of-place thought come from?_ Kaname mildly thought to himself.

Zero Kiryu. _Zero Kiryu._ **Zero Kiryu.**

Kaname tapped his fingers on the desk. For some strange reason, he was terribly anxious. _Why did he just think of Zero Kiryu at that moment?_

Zero Kiryu. _Zero. Kiryu._ **Zero Kiryu.**

Kaname **did not** want that man to come back. _He did not want him to._ Not only because Kaname would lose his Silver, but because Kiryu was..._Kiryu was_...

Kiryu was too wild.

Kiryu was _too uncontrollable_. Too reckless. **Too disobedient.**

Even when Kaname knew the man knew he could crush him like an ugly bug, Kiryu _still_ stood against him. The ex-human hunter would _dare_ to _question_ him. He would dare to _mock_, and _belittle_, and _disagree_ and -

**Challenge. **

Oh, how that lavender-eyed man liked to challenge him! It made Kaname _so_ furious! How dare such a low-level ex-human creature dare to challenge someone who was his obvious better! How dare such a powerless and weak person lay claim to something (Yuki) he had no right to even have!

Kiryu was one of the few people in life that had dared to challenge him and..._**won**_.

That fact made Kaname extremely... _embittered_.

_Somehow_, Kiryu had won the heart of Yuki - the person that was suppose to be _his_ heart.

Kaname had been so livid at _that_ _**lost**_, he couldn't contain his monstrous darkness.

And like the monsters of old, he _crushed_ Kiryu.

He destroyed and erased him because Kiryu was the _first_ person who challenged Kaname _**and won.**_

But _somehow_ - _someway_ - Kiryu, in the form of Silver, became an important person to him.

Kaname was deeply conflicted.

He _hated_ Zero Kiryu.

But he... _deeply cared_...for Silver Night.

So terribly conflicted was Kaname Kuran.

One could _almost_ laugh.

However, this game of hearts Kaname was playing wasn't just a single player game. There was another player. A reckless player. A player he _least_ expected.

His wife - Yuki Kuran.

**Yuki** was the other main player.

To Kaname, _that_ fact seemed so terribly funny it was darkly ironic.

Kiryu and Kaname once fought to get Yuki. However, now, Yuki could try to fight him to get her Kiryu. Nevertheless, Kaname was fighting to keep them both. While the only dark horse in this twisted affair was the is-he-still-there-deep-down-inside-Zero Kiryu/Silver Night.

Still, he, Kaname Kuran, was the most powerful player in this three-person game of hearts, and Kaname had every intention of being the _final_ winner of this intense game in the end.

And Yuki wasn't really a _threat_ to Kaname.

Even if Yuki was the powerful Pureblood Vampire Queen of the Far Eastern Realm, even if Yuki could stand on her own, fight, aid him in his various internal and external conflicts, and create massive amounts of wealth...

She would have been _NOTHING_... _**if not for him!**_

Kaname was the one to protect her, provide for her, cover for her, push her, and mold her into the person she was today. Of course, Yuki had her flaws, but overall, Kaname was _satisfied_ with what she was today.

After all, everything Yuki currently was, and _**everything she had **_was _because_ of him.

And if she didn't submit willingly, then he would _force_ her too.

In Kaname's mind, Haruka wasn't the _only_ person who needed to understand his harsh lessons. Yuki _also_ needed to be schooled as to the dark reality of the real world. At this moment, Kaname firmly believed that Yuki _**did not**_ deserve to have Kiryu. Just like Haruka did not deserve his outward affections.

_Why?_

Because both individuals would mindlessly destroy their gifts as easily as Kaname destroyed his past chances.

Thus, Kaname would _not_ allow the things he so greatly valued to be so _easily_ destroyed by two _powerless_ fools!

After all, if Yuki had _really_ loved Kiryu so deeply, she would have tried her best to protect him from all threats like _he_ _had protected her._

But she didn't. Therefore, she lost him.

If Haruka really wanted Kaname's affection and approval, he would have worked hard for it.

But he didn't. Therefore, he wouldn't get it.

The pureblood teen, Goog Song, was a textbook model of Kaname's philosophies. The boy was merciless, cruel, had ambition, and hungered for power. Kaname may not have _liked_ him, but at least his son's rival knew the only truths that mattered in the Nightfall World.

Only by _power_ does one have rights.

Only by power does one get to keep and protect everything that one cared for and loved.

Kaname hoped that by having the young Korean pureblood as a supposed rival would encourage Haruka to become the vampire heir Kaname had _always_ wished for. But that was another failed plan, wasn't it?

Kaname also hoped that Yuki, after realizing the contribution of her faults and failings to this situation, would become the eternal companion - his heart - Kaname had always wished for. But could he actually make things happen the way he wanted to?

Couldn't he have it all?

And if Kaname _could_ have it all, why _shouldn't_ he do all he could to get it?

Ring. Ring.

Instantly, Kaname was awakened from his internal musings.

Ring. Ring.

Turning on his desktop video phone, Kaname answered it.

It was Akatsuki Kain, his First Commander of the Far Eastern Armed Vampire Forces. Kaname was mildly surprised and curious. Out of all the members of Kaname's inner circle, the silent spiky red-haired man was the most stable, balanced, and reliable of all of them. Not even _Seiren_ had his level of true dedication to Kaname, despite the fact that she was the only one from the Queen's side that had been willing to come to his First Royal Assembly of the New Year a few days ago. But such thoughts were for another time.

"My King," Kain's golden-brown eyes looked nervous. Kaname was instantly on edge. "I believe there is an assassination attempt on your life currently occurring."

Kaname was floored. _What in the world?_

He stared at his commander. "Excuse me?" Kaname was confused. "An assassination attempt _**on me**_?" He was incredulous. Who could be that bloody stupid?

Without missing a beat and using his powers of area senses, Kaname swept the entire length of the three top floors of the Red King's Building. The walls and floors trembled at his unleashed 'x-ray' scan of his environment, but there were no presences near him or on his floors with malicious intents. _None_. In fact, it seemed there was a great _subtraction_ in the number of individuals who were _supposed_ to be on these three floors!

_What? _

Kanane could only sense one person in Juri's room on the second floor. However, that person's aura wasn't his daughter's, despite being female. It must have been his daughter's loyal female caretaker, Mika, then.

So...where was Juri?

A sense of fatherly panic erupted inside Kaname's cold chest, but he viciously locked it away. Panic was not for a time like this! He couldn't panic yet without having more facts. Juri could have gone somewhere to get something to eat or buy something, or she went to see her mother or -

Kanane was _most_ disturbed, and he didn't know why.

But still using his powers, Kaname went to the top floor of the hotel building, and he could feel only one person in his private hotel suite.

_Was it Silver? _

His gut instincts told him it was _**not**_.

Something _inside_ Kaname roared to life.

"Hold on for a moment, Akatsuki." Kaname swept his commander's phone window to the side and opened a new phone line. He dialed the number to his private hotel room.

"Hello?" A male voice answered.

King Kaname Kuran darkly frowned. The person who picked up the phone was _not_ who he wanted at this moment.

"Butler Rio," Kaname tried to keep his voice calm and steady. "Where is my daughter and –" Kaname's mind instantly remained him that Akatsuki was _still_ on and Kaname _did not_ want his lover's existence known just yet. "_And_ _her_ _**bodyguard**_?" He quickly amended. Akatsuki's plain expression never changed, but Kaname was unsure if the redhead caught his slip. Akatsuki was loyal, but he was extremely hard to read in such cases. But Kaname put the thought out of his mind. That wasn't important!

The was a brief pause on the other end, and Kaname's inner beast started to howl with fright.

"I d-don't know, your highness." His elderly Butler said. "The last I saw of her, she was running away crying and...her bodyguard...was rushing right after her!"

"She was _crying_ and he ran _after_ her?" Kaname repeated. He was unreservedly worried. By darkness, what in the world happen for _that_ to happen? "What reason could she have to cry? And where did she run to?" Kaname asked.

Butler Rio's voice cracked. "I-I believe she ran down the emergency staircase, my king."

_Emergency Staircase? _

Akastuki perked up. "The Energy Shield #10110 which is located in the fourth emergency staircase in your building was suddenly destroyed a few minutes ago, King Kuran." Akastuki added.

Kaname was speechless, but before Kaname could respond to those statements, a completely unexpected thing occurred next.

The sound of a massive explosion rocked Kaname's ears.

Kaname's instincts flared to life, and he was out of his office within seconds.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** My goodness, my readers! This chapter took longer for me to write because Kaname's POVS is so hard to accurately describe! XD His thinking is so right and wrong - so factual but also so _twisted_ - that he puts me in various binds during my writing process of this. XD His character and emotions are probably the most complex out of the three (and that's saying something! 0_0), so his mental musings take me quite some time! XD

But the plot marches on! Oh, what a twisty few chapter await thee, my readers! XD Anyway, thanks for reading and _**please leave a review!**_ **Short or long – I love them all! ;D**


	68. Chapter 67 Broken

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Lady Commander Seiren felt like the world was _ending_.

"I need all units to find the Royal children and bring them to the Queen." Over her phone, Seiren hurriedly barked her orders to her best army assistant, Osamu Tanaka. "The Queen knows that the Princess is in severe pain at this moment, and the prince may also be in grave danger!" She snapped.

"On it, Commander." Tanaka snapped back. In another phone, she heard him snap his commands. "Units Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta - Saddle Up! Take Your Places. Find the two Great Prizes - NOW!"

"Prizes?" An eerily and too close voice whispered next to Seiren's left ear. "What are the prizes, army woman?"

It took all Seiren had to not jump three feet in shock or rip out the Queen's Dark Hand's throat out of reflex.

_How in the world did he appear out of nowhere like that?_ Seiren darkly thought.

Nevertheless, Yoshiro moved out of her reach just in case Seiren changed her mind. Still, he gave Seiren an evil queer grin. "Is there a _hunt_ going on, now?" He excitedly asked. "A _hunt_ that has _prizes_?" Seiren couldn't see it, but by the man's tone of voice, he sounded disgustedly happy.

Queen Yuki Kuran ignored her top two servants and focused on locating her children with her familiar ravens.

Nothing.

She was finding _nothing_.

_Her ten ravens found nothing!_

By darkness, what the _hell_ was happening? Where was Juri? Where the _hell_ was she?

Yuki knew that Juri was too hurt for her to wait for help, and Haruka could be –

_I'm wasting time! _Yuki thought to herself. _I'm wasting too much time!_

Without informing her two subjects, Yuki went to pick up her two anti-vampire weapons – the Artemis Rod and her gun, the Crimson Thorne – and she decided that she was going to get _her_ children _herself _if it was the last thing she would do!

"Wait, my Queen!" Seiren said. "We need to at least know their positions before we – "

And suddenly, far beneath her feet the sound of an intense explosion ripped apart the Queen's White Building of the Imperial Hotel. The quaking was sharp and quick, but for a chilling moment, Yuki's heart painfully clenched.

Immediately, she pulled at her mother-daughter bond with Juri and felt..._**nothing**_.

In the next split second, Yuki pulled at her mother-son bond with Haruka and **also** felt..._**nothing**_.

Yuki felt an ugly calmness freeze her broken soul stiff.

The spiritual quietness in her soul seemed to devour her fractured self. However, despite the chilling silence within her soul, Yuki was starting to hear a light buzzing in her pale ear. Well, the sound wasn't really there. No, it wasn't really an audible sound one could her, but it was still there, nonetheless. Yes, yes. Such a thing was crazy. It was mad. How could Yuki hear a sound that wasn't really a _real_ sound that an outside person couldn't hear?

The buzzing sound and dark quietness in her continued. The buzzing noise that only Yuki could _hear_ and _feel_ deep within her being. A sound that was only for her.

Only for Yuki and Yuki alone.

The sound grew louder and it seemed to add to itself three small words.

_...Mad..._

_...Dog..._

_...Queen..._

Yuki had felt this way only _three_ times before. The first time was when Zero did not arrive at their wedding destination. The second time was when she lost their only child. The third time was when her crushing guilt caused her to lose her mind for five years.

Each of those calm buzzing times was like a forewarning to Yuki that she was about to lose something extremely precious to her, and _**there was nothing she could do about it.**_

She could do nothing about it because Yuki was a stupid, weak girl who wrecks everything she touches.

So, the buzzing sound continued.

It gave her an unnerving calmness. A gentle peace. A tranquility. Like a calm before a vicious storm.

_...Mad...Dog...Queen..._

This was the fourth time Yuki felt this soft stillness caress her broken soul.

_**The fourth time.**_

Silence buzzing. Buzzing silence.

Was Yuki Kuran going to lose her two children now?

_Yes._ Inner voices whispered.

Was she going to lose her two children, just like how she lost her Zero and their only child?

_Yes. _Inner voices whispered some more.

Mad Dog Queen. _Mad Dog Queen._** Mad Dog Queen. **Mad Dog Queen. _Mad Dog Queen._** Mad Dog Queen. **

"**NOT. THIS. TIME." **A dark and wretched _Mad Dog Vampire Queen_ decreed.

Yuki's telekinesis powers _**erupted**_.

Every glass, mirror, screen, and window in the Queen's White Building Hotel s_hattered_ into a _**million**_ pieces.

Yoshiro's lips broke out into a hungry smile, and Seiren dropped her cell phone in utter shock as the unleashed powerful rage of the Pureblood Vampire Queen of the Far Eastern Realm slammed into the White building's walls and shook its very foundations.

Yuki's Artemis Rod became a huge blood-red scythe and without thinking about it, she cut her right palm deeply into the revealed blade. From the dark-red pure blood, black butterfly wings materialize on her white fur coat back. The two wings glowed with a malevolent aura.

Yoshiro bowed with a dark grinned. "Shall we start the hunt, my dark lady?"

"**WE. **_**SHALL**_." The Huntress Queen declared.

And through the scattered windows that mirrored her enraged tunnel-focused mind, Queen Yuki Kuran leapt into the night's moon darkness.

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-Seven: Broken **

* * *

**Present **

_"It is because he committed a great evil." The waxed self said. "And when the true self remembers his terrible sin...he will suffer and break even __further__."_

The slowly healing Silver Night silently stared at the waxed self child.

The new but clearly unwillingly given information about his true self weighed heavily in the air between the two selves.

Silver's cracking heart felt slightly raw. He didn't know what to think about these new revelations and because of this confusion, Silver had no idea of what he should do.

What should Silver do? _What the hell could he do about this?_ Could Silver _do_ anything about this?

From what the waxed self had just told him, Silver's true self had committed a great evil. A terrible wrong. A sin so horrible that he broke himself into three pieces and forced one of the selves to endure such an awful never-ending thorny punishment.

And how long had the true self been enduring such a cruel punishment?

Silver remembered the first time he met his true self. It had been nearly one hundred years since that first meeting between true and shadow, and it had been the first time he almost died. Yet, even that far back, Silver remembered the bloody thorny chains and tight silver-gold collar that wrapped painfully around his true self. He remembered the feeling of sick fright in him when he saw that pitiful scene, and the desperate determination that was birth in him to free that poor person.

So, did this mean that his true self has been suffering this _self-inflicted torture_ for almost _one hundred years? _

**Really?**

_How was that even possible? _

And – why? _Why?_ **Why?**

After a long moment, Silver found his voice. "Why does he wish to live with this torment?" He softly asked. "Why does he hate himself? Why does he punish himself?" Silver softly stared at the heavily breathing waxed self, who hands were still dripping with fresh blood.

However, as the small child looked at Silver with weary pitying eyes, a brand new voice suddenly answered Silver's sad questions.

"It is because I deserved it, other half." The new person sadly said.

Silver looked up and saw...his _freed_ **true self**.

And he was completely overwhelmed.

For the first time during their history, grayish-purple eyes clashed against _pure_ amethyst orbs.

Silver was left _**breathless**_.

His true self looked _exactly_ like him. Other than his true self's short silver hair and his vivid amethyst eyes. But while they looked _exactly_ alike – almost like twins - it was obvious to anyone who could see it that they two selves were never so _different_.

There seemed to be a _terrible_ but _brilliant_ deep light within his true self. The radiant glow from within him was extremely dazzling yet strangely so totally peaceful.

A strange twisting feeling erupted inside Silver's blank and empty soul at the discovery. Silver felt some new thing awaken inside him, and the feeling... _terrified_... him.

Silver felt like he was being _**damned**_.

The luminous presence of his true self was something that Silver felt was _too much_ for him to take.

Suddenly, Silver was aware of a dark monstrous beast who was inside of him. The inherent darkness that was within Silver - that defined and shaped what he _was_ - wanted to, paradoxically_,_ flee _and_ fight against his true self's radiance. This beast wanted to destroy and consume this precious light and radiance. This beast wanted to consume his true self's goodness.

And this inner beast of Silver's wanted to devour that light and forever keep it for itself.

The differences between the two selves – true and shadow - couldn't be more obvious at this exact painful moment.

If his true self was pure, he was filthy.

If his true self was kind, he was cruel.

If his true self was love, he was hatred.

If his true self was light, Silver was _darkness_ itself.

Silver looked at his true self with painful gray-lavender eyes. Burning questions leaped from his lips. "_How_ could _you_ deserve this torture, true one? How could _you_ deserve this?" Silver looked down on the bloody chains that still trapped him on the golden chair. A terrible rueful smile started to twist his lips. "If anyone deserves punishment, it should be _**me**_." Silver said so lightly that one had to have perfect hearing to hear it.

**Darkness**.

Silver Night was all things dark, vile, cruel, and deceptive. He was a dirty criminal, an ugly offender, and a vile malefactor.

And _shadows_ could not have light. Shadows could only have darkness.

"_But kindness is not for you. Happiness is something you will not have. And love will never be yours."_ _The waxed self mercilessly informed._

Nevertheless, his true self looked at him with a look that Silver could not _describe_, but without really thinking about his next words, Silver told his true self his greatest wish – his most desperate of pleas – his only true wish because this was the first time (and probably the only time) he could ever say this words again.

"True self, I do not want to live this life anymore." Silver told him quietly, sadly, and softly. "I am _tired_. I am so _tired_ of this _false_ existence of mine." Silver dared to look his shining true self in the eye once again. "Can't you put an end to this, true one? Can't we just end my false half-life now and be complete?"

A silence moment descended between the three different selves.

The shadow self was exceedingly tired.

The waxed self was still nursing his hurts.

But the true self looked..._**extremely**_ _**guilty**_.

"What makes you think your existence is _false_, other half?" His true self said. "What makes you think _your_ _existence_ is _false_?"

Silver snapped his head back like he had been hit, and his eyes widened at the unexpected questions.

"I-I am a terribly contaminated soul, true one." Silver stammered, but then he grew bold. " I am nothing more than a _destroyer_ who is _not_ good. A wicked thing which cannot feel happiness, and who can't truly love." Silver bitterly said. "_You_ are not such a sad thing."

His true self was silent, but his mysterious amethyst eyes watched him with a razor-sharp intensity that Silver felt instantly unnerved by. Silver couldn't really describe his feelings. He really couldn't, but that didn't stop him from speaking out loud his desperate dreams and secret wishes.

"I want to know what kindness is. I want to know what real happiness feels like." Silver looked at his true self intrepidly. "I want to know..._**love**_, true one." Silver's voice broke then. "I want to say 'I love you' and _mean_ it. _Really_ mean it. _But_..." And here Silver made a dangerous gamble with his reckless words. "But I cannot know them without _you_, true one. " Silver sadly asserted. "Can't we simply become complete now? Can't we just find some small type of happiness in this cold dark world _together_?"

Another silence descended on the three selves.

Silver suddenly felt embarrassed. Like he had said far too much, and things that he shouldn't have said. Silver didn't want his true self to be angry at him. No. Silver never wanted to anger or hurt his true self. Yet still, Silver desperately wished to end this dark life journey he was enduring. He wanted to end everything and finally be the person he was meant to be.

However, his true self did the most _unexpected_ of thing.

"You wish to know happiness and love, other half?" His true self softly asked as he moved slowly towards Silver and lightly pushed the third waxed self aside. The waxed moved without much effort, and for a brief second, Silver feared that the evil thorns would come back to devour his moonlight flesh. Silver winced and waited for the pain, but the pain never came.

Instead, a cool hand gently touched his chin and pulled it up. The true and shadow selves' eyes met once again, and then the true self repeated his odd question gently.

"You wish to know happiness and love, other half?" Silver's true self tenderly asked.

Without thinking of the consequences, Silver said, "I do."

And like a lovingly devoted parent who wanted to comfort a frightened child, his true self _kissed_ his forehead.

Silver was totally beleaguered.

This kiss..._**this kiss**_...Silver could not describe what _**this kiss**_ was truly _like_.

Beauty was in this kiss.

_Love_ was in this _kiss_.

Happiness, joy, kindness, peace, honor, dignity...and a thousand other wondrously _positive_ emotions that he had _never_ ever felt before consumed Silver's tired heart for one glorious moment. It was such a tender and sweet act that somehow made that Silver feel..._safe_...and... _**loved**_.

But when his true self's lips finally remove themselves from Silver's snow-white forehead, he felt a terrible _aching_ loss. It was like his heart had been cut to bloody ribbons. The sudden removal of those soft lips on his forehead felt like a knife through his heart. A hot, cruel, and evil knife that seemed to love the feeling of Silver's dying half soul.

Yet his true self wasn't done.

"Those feelings are things _we_ do not deserve, other half." His true self whispered to him softly in his ear. His warm breath tickled Silver's neck. "Those feelings are not for the likes of us."

Silver's rare rebelliousness reared its ugly head. "I don't understand, true one!" Silver argued. "I don't understand and I will not accept that! We deserved that! We deserved that more than _anyone_ else at all!"

"No, we don't, other half." His true self maintained.

"Then what do we _deserve_, true one?" Silver became angry. He wanted those blessedly happy feelings again! And he was going to do everything in his power to get them back! "What the _hell_ do will deserve then?" He challenged.

Unexpectedly, a sad twisting smile graced his true self's lips at Silver's displayed anger. However, his pure jewel-like eyes glowed with terrible... _culpability_.

"You just said it best, other half." His true self lightly said. "You just said it best."

Silver was utterly confused. "What?"

His true self looked at him – _really looked at him_ – for one dreadful moment, and then he said three words Silver would forever remember.

"**We deserve hell." **His true self darkly whispered into Silver's right ear.

And then his true self gave him a _second_ kiss.

But _this_ kiss was _wildly_ different from the first _gentle_ one.

The first kiss had been on Silver's forehead, but this second kiss was _a kiss on the lips._

And it was _**horrific**_.

This kiss was a mystifying vulnerability. It tasted like anguishing pain and a stinging abhorrence of self. It was favored with self-hatred, misery, agony, pain, and suffering. It was like drinking a broken dream, or savoring dying wishes, or eating shredded bright promises.

This kiss spoke of..._**utter**_ _**loss**_.

Terrible Loss. _Betraying Loss._ **Monstrous Loss.**

And Silver was helplessly swept away in this horrifying kiss, and he could _not_ escape from it.

Time seemed to stop and pass - to flow but still remain frozen– as shadow and light clashed against each other in a loss lip dance of pain, hate, and... _**crushing consuming guilt**_.

Without warning, the terrible lost kiss soon ended.

"Those feelings..." His true self lightly whispered against his lips. "_Those_ feelings are what we _deserve_, my other half."

An appalling hurt ripped into Silver's heart at those broken words, and he snapped opened his gray-purple eyes to argue against them.

In spite of this, as he looked into the extremely broken amethyst gaze of his true self...Silver could not say a word.

And to Silver's shocked amazement, they _also_ **switched** _**places**_.

SNAP. CRACK.

_**No! **_

His true self had returned to his place among the cruel thorny chains, bloody golden chair, and the cold silver-gold collar that wrapped tightly around his snow-white throat.

_**No!**_

Like a spell had been broken, the thousands of thorns that his waxed self had removed came back with a happy vengeance when his true self returned to his place. Each evil thorn buried itself deep into his true-self's snow-white flesh like thousands of insect stings. Yet his true self didn't even utter a _single_ painful grasp.

_**No! **_

Hot red blood burst from the thousands of small wounds and the lone golden chair was dyed with a fresh coat of ruby paint.

SNAP. CRACK. _SNAP. CRACK._

_**No! **_

For one terrible long moment, his true self looked at Silver with a tragic dying resolve.

"_Goodbye forever, other half._" His true self emptily decided. "_Let us not ever see each other again._"

Silver's eyes widen with denial. But without another thought, he desperately reached towards his true self - but was blocked by the _waxed_ self.

"The true self has commanded, thus it will be." The child self emotionally stated.

SNAP. CRACK. _SNAP. CRACK._ **SNAP. CRACK.**

_**SHATTER. **_

The dream world broke into a billion little pieces.

And Silver was... _falling...__**in the darkness.**_

He was falling, _falling_, **falling...**but he didn't even care!

Silver screamed until his throat ripped. He screamed until he tasted his own blood in the back of his throat. He screamed the same questions he had repeated over and _over_ and _**over,**_ and time and _time_ **again**.

"_How long will you have to suffer this, true self_?" Silver endlessly screamed as he fell. "_How long? How long? __**How long, true one?**_**"**

But as darkness surrounded Silver, he could only hear one dreaded echoing answer.

And it was the answer that Silver _hated_ _the most_ because he _still_ didn't understand it.

"_**Until my punishment is complete."**_

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N:** And so the plot and mysteries march on! XD

Anyway, to answer a question I keep getting about the future two next lemons in this fic (some of my readers are really quite curious about them, I see! XD) – well, I can't say much about how they will happen because that will spoil the future surprises in these next two arcs! XD But have a little faith in me! While I'm not the strongest at lemons (even though I think I'm slowly improving in that department *_*), all I can say is that I really meant what I said the last time about them (one is 'bittersweet romantic' and the other is 'darkly dominating'), but I'm not sure what else to say about them without giving the various plot surprises in those arcs away. X3 So sorry! I won't be saying anymore! ;3

But all I can say is that those future lemons are..._creative enough_...for them to flow well into the current story! After all, Zero/Silver is an extremely strong personality and there are many (and many and a great many more) different ways for him to 'dominate' by - well..._ahem_...Let me not say anything more, shall I? XD Half the fun is the tease!

Still, this current arc will be a very dark and rocky one for all those involved, I believe! So, I'm giving you guys a heads-up now! 0_0 But Kaname, go wild! Yuki, I chose you! Silver/Zero, Juri, and Haruka, take cover! XD

_**Well, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long, I love them all! ;D **_


	69. Chapter 68 Hunt

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

As he was having an impromptu meeting with his executive staff members of Shikian Media in one of the small rooms of the Queen's White Building of the Imperial Hotel's fourth floor, there was a slight frown on Senri Shiki's pale thin lips.

Everyone in the room looked like they had barely survived a warzone.

He and his four top executives each looked like they were trapped in varies stages of intense fatigue. Senri, _himself_, hadn't gotten a _wink_ of sleep in the past 24 hours, and he was extremely _irate_ about it.

Sleep and Senri were the _best_ of friends and to not meet such a dear friend of his daily...didn't do him well. There were dark bags around Senri's eyes, and he had not changed his clothes. However, his only saving grace was the fact that everyone else in the small room looked as bad off as he did.

Well, everyone except one.

His top anchorwoman, Emi Yoshida, calmly shook her head. "I am not sure what to do about that, Lord Shiki." The women evenly said. Her short brown hair, business suit outfit, and manner were incurably spotless and impeccable.

_Goodness._ Senri marveled as he watched her - slightly envious. Emi was always known to be well put together, and she was infamously known to be so calm that even if the world was on fire, she wouldn't blink a single eyelash.

Still, Senri had come a long way from his old modeling days where he always had to look stunning at every single moment. Senri gleefully reverted back into the ways of the average man (Sloppy chic, as Rima called it) and on some days, he would look like something the cat dragged in and spat out (to Rima's horror.) Senri really didn't care much for his looks, except when he was working, but even then he was average looking at best.

Heavily sighing, Senri turned to the rest of his current on-location staff members. "Does anyone else have an answer to this mystery?" He lightly growled. "Don't you all know how much those cameras actually cost us?" He darkly pointed out.

Senri felt extremely guilty. By darkness, those ruin cameras nearly cost Yuki everything. Senri felt like the worst of failures. He felt like he had failed his favorite cousin when she _needed_ him the most.

So while Senri lost nearly six million dollars of extremely technical equipment in less than a second, Kaname was going to get off _scot-free_ for Zero's untimely murder because of his errors! The status of limitations of vampire murder laws had officially passed, so now Kaname wouldn't be forced to trial over it!

Senri pressed his lips together tightly.

Well, no.

No, that wasn't quite right.

Senri was helping as best he could, but at times like these, if felt like he wasn't doing enough.

Just because the times have changed, didn't mean _everything_ changed.

And despite the fact that Senri was closely manipulating the media for Yuki's favor, Senri couldn't overrule a basic worldly tenet.

_**Those who had the most power decided on the rules. **_

Senri felt spiteful.

Despite his crime, Senri was a realist. He knew his devious male cousin was a pureblood vampire ruler, and his poor deceased victim was an ex-human vampire hunter. While in an honest world that wouldn't make a lick of difference...this wasn't an honest or fair world.

That distinction was quite a big one and Senri was realistic enough to know that such a difference could very well swing the next trial court into Kaname's favor.

Dai Masani, Senri's business assistant, looked rueful. "I'm sorry, Lord Shiki." And Dai really sounded sad about it. "But we just don't know how –"

BOOM!

_BOOM!_

**BOOM!**

The ground quavered. The walls trembled. And the others (excluding Emi) began to scream.

"Quiet!"Senri hissed as he rapidly blinked his blue eyes. There was no time for that and his people - amazingly - obeyed him.

Senri tried to process what had just happened, but his mind couldn't really believe it! By darkness, that sounded and felt like there were_ explosions _of some sortright _underneath_ his very feet!

"What is going on?" Dai asked with a panicky voice after he got back his senses.

But before Senri could say a word, a dark and massive vibration of angry pureblood power shook the entire building and shattered all the mirrors and windows in the small conference room. Everything that was delicate broke into a thousand different pieces, and without even thinking about it, Senri dashed around the conference table as fast as he could to protect himself from the flying glass pieces. He was quickly followed after by the rest of the room's occupants.

But it wasn't over.

When all the sharp pieces of glass stopped moving, hundreds of black ravens seemed to swarm the room like a massive black feather tornado. The sound of their rapidly beating wings was _deafening,_ and Senri fastened his pale hands onto his sensitive ears to block out the terrifying noises.

Still, despite the awful and fearful sounds, Senri could recognize who those birds _belonged_ to.

They were Yuki's familiars.

Senri's heart froze.

But Yuki only released her aerial familiars when she was 'hunting' or in a bitter physical combat!

**Oh, no. **

Senri felt sick to his stomach. _This was bad._ He thought. _This was very bad._

Who in the world was Yuki fighting?

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-Eight: Hunt **

* * *

**Present**

King Kaname Kuran felt the furious unleashed power vibrations of an enraged vampire monarchy.

He stopped his rapid trek to his private elevators immediately.

The impulse of horrifying dark pureblood vampire power pulsated through the cold air. A telekinetic wave of sinister killing intent seemed to flow out of the unleashed murderous power and even _Kaname_ was flabbergasted at the violent display. Everything in the surrounding radius mightily shuddered, and the screaming of hundreds of black ravens decorated the night wind with a grizzly song.

While he could feel all the inhabitants of the hotel tremble in utter fear, Kaname recognized the emotional display for what it was.

It was the strength of an _enraged_ pureblood vampire queen mother.

Kaname was utterly taken back. And for once in Kaname's life, he perfectly understood his wife's true feelings.

_**YUKI.**_

**WAS.**

_**ANGRY.**_

_**She was extremely angry.**_

This would _not_ do.

A flash of a painful lost memory assaulted Kaname's mind at that moment.

_Seiren gave him a recent photograph of Yuki. The noble woman's silver eyes looked terribly sad. "She's completely gone, my lord." Seiren softy said. "She's completely gone." _

_Kaname stared at the small picture._

_And his heart __**ached**__. _

_**This couldn't be his Yuki. **_

_His pale fingers covered his gapping open mouth._

_This __**thing**__ could not be __**his**__ precious Yuki. _

_This __**thing**__ was a dirty unhinged beast! A blood-soaked huntress! A gnawing madwoman with the blood of numerous brutally broken corpses surrounding her bleeding feet._

_Kaname wordlessly stared at the silent picture._

_**This ugly sad thing couldn't be his Yuki! **_

Kaname's heart trembled at the memory.

No, this would certainly _not_ do.

He needed to _find_ her and _calm her down,_ or else she'll destroy everything in her path.

Without a second thought, Kaname disintegrated into a thousand bats.

He needed to find Yuki _**NOW**__!_

* * *

Speechless, Sosono looked at the two brothers, Im Dae and Soo Bin Han.

_Idiots! _Sosono mentally raged. _They were all idiots!_

After a brief moment, her mouth was able to form a cutting sentence. "Why is the prince so damage, you damn fools?" The ancient woman angrily hissed. "We need the boy relatively _alive_ and _well_ if this plan in going to work!" She raised up her hand and wanted to smack the three pureblood males with her fan. "He is near death's door!" She viciously pointed at Im Dae's badly bleeding royal victim.

"It's not our fault!" The peacock, Soo Bin, effortlessly whined. "Goog was the one who did it!" He shiftlessly blamed.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault!" The young Goog shouted back.

The nine Korean rebels - and their three inactive kidnap victims - were at a temporary base location outside of the Imperial Hotel. Sosono was able to transport the three male purebloods, Goog, Im Dae, and Soo Bin, from the Queen's White Building's immediately when she got the signal that they had the prince.

Sosono was extremely exhausted with the use of her special powers, but she couldn't stop now! They were so _close_ to success! They had successfully completed stage one of her plans (Getting the victims) which was the trickiest. However, _now_, they needed to get _out_ of Japan and back to Korea as fast as they possibly could before they could make their demands.

But the prince was terribly injured! He wasn't ready for travel!

Sosono glared at the youngest rebel's mother, the gentle Hye Jin Song. "Can you heal him?" She asked as her black eyes flashed.

Hye Jin nodded slightly. However, the small woman was taken aback by Sosono's temper.

"Then do it now!" Sosono ordered. "And quickly!" Hye Jin frowned at Sosono's tone, but she swiftly did as the woman ordered.

Turning around, Sosono glared at the two pairs of brothers. However, the Royal Korean Governor, Byung Gi Kim, sighed heavily. " While I understand your fury, Sosono." He neutrally said. "We have more important things to focus on. You need to get back to the yacht at Wadaura Port with them!" He pointed out. "We don't have time, and the King and Queen could be on to us at this very moment!"

Byung Gi rubbed his forehead. Oh, how he wished this was all a nightmare! But Byung Gi bitterly knew that this moment was a sour reality. By darkness, if this plan failed, he was going to lose his head!

The Wadaura Port (the port that the rebel Koreans had chosen to come in) was located 50 miles southeast of central Tokyo. By traveling by sea, the rebels wouldn't need to deal with the various check points of customs the faster modes of travel would force on them.

So, by using the mega yacht, the rebels would be able to get out of Japan without any trouble, and once they were on the open and international seas, they could use the yacht's helicopters to get back to their hidden Korean base without any more trouble.

However, while the distance was needed, it did _increase_ the risk of their plot failing.

The second trickiest part of this entire plot was the travel route with the three bargaining pieces from the Imperial Hotel to the Wadaura Port. They couldn't be suspicious, so the fastest ways of travel – city helicopter, hover limo, or city train – wasn't an option. Therefore, they had to go by ground _car_.

And Tokyo's ground traffic was notoriously bad! It could add unneeded _hours_ to their road trip.

So really, there was no time for Sosono's rage.

Darkly sighing, Sosono watched Hye Jin Song and Im Dae Han work on the injured prince, and she hissed her teeth.

They would need more time.

Okay, then. At least she had a backup plan ready for such a problem.

"Go enact my second plan that will buy us the needed time, Byung Gi and Goog!" She hissed at them. The two males jumped at her tone, but Sosono ignored them." Distract them as much as possible. We will need as much time as we can get to get to that port!"

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

On the roof of the White Queen's Hotel Building and though the eyes of hundreds of blood-hungry black ravens, Yuki searched for her precious two children. The hundreds of birds clawed and screamed in the bitter winter night air. They all screeched their hungry mad cries and squealed with ravenous delight as they terrified the trapped inhabitants of the Imperial Hotel.

**...I...**

**...Must...**

**...Find...**

**...Them...**

Like a song on repeat, only one sentence was replicated repeatedly in her breaking mind and furious heart.

~I must find them. _I must find them_. **I must find them.** I must find them. _I must find them._ **I must find them. ~**

But the memories of past failures, past regrets, and broken dreams consumed Yuki's heart and soul like a vicious nightmare.

Yet the voices - the evil voices that were always there in the background of her mind – grew louder as they sensed her fragile desperation. The numerous mocking whispers were simple in their cruelty, and each accusation was like a stabbing dagger to her dying soul.

_You didn't find him, so you won't find them! _The voices said.

_Nope! Nope! _

_Never! Never! _

**FLASH!** _Zero wrapped his arm around her closer and kissed her forehead. "I like everything about you, Yuki, but most especially your smile. Your smile tells me everything I need to know."_

**So much blood. **

**Too much blood. **

**Such a massive amount of blood lost...**

CRACK_._

No!

_I must find them._ Yuki thought as she searched for her children. Don't think about the past. Don't think about it! _I must find them. __**I must find them.**__**I MUST FIND THEM.**_

**FLASH!** _"This gift of mines represents all my feelings and thoughts towards Yuki." Zero told the speechless inhabitants of the room plainly. Yuki could hardly keep herself from dying with laughter. This gift was so like Zero!_

_**There were bloody bits of his torn wedding clothes and odd-placed silk pieces.**_

_Like you didn't find him!_ The voices mocked her. _Like you didn't find him!_ They repeated.

CRACK_. CRACK._

_**No!**_ Yuki refused to believe that! She would not allow history to be repeated again!

I must find them_**.**__**I must find them. **_Yuki raged._** I MUST FIND THEM.**_

So with the hundreds of pairs of eyes of her aerial familiars, Yuki saw _everything_ they could see. Every face, every detail, every object, and every room was open to her sight. Thousands of images rushed into her breaking mind like an insane fast-forward movie. If such a thing were to happen to a sane mind, the millions of different pieces of critical or useless information would have completely inundated them.

Fortunately, Queen Yuki Kuran wasn't completely '_sane'_ for the longest of times.

So, she could handle it.

But in the radius of her current location – she could find _no_ _sign_ of her beloved children!

**FLASH!** _Yuki took in a deep inhaling breath. No matter what – Zero's scent always told her that he was here - and real and steady - and that he would __forever__ keep her safe._

_**The cold cave room was soaked with his unique scent of sandalwood.**_

The voices snickered with dark glee. _ You will lose what was most precious to you again little girl because you are still __**too**__ pathetic to protect what you love! _

NO!

NO! _NO!_

NO! _NO!_ _**NO!**_

Another feeling of rage and despair consumed Yuki's black heart.

**NOT. THIS. TIME. **

Once again, she whipped around her blood-red scythe and cut her pale palms afresh. Over twenty fresh lines were at the center of her torn up palms, and her bloody hand prints were all over her slick weapon.

But Yuki did not register the pain. She didn't feel the pain at all! Why? Because pain was nothing to her, and with each new drop of her pure blood, she gave birth to another raven worker. This new slice on her hand created a new group of a hundred birds, and these dark birds joined their brethren army flock.

_Yuki had to find Juri and Haruka. _

She had to.

She _really_ had to.

**She had to find them. **

_Because..._

_Because_...Yuki **did not** find _**him**_.

**She didn't find Zero! **

So, _she had to __**find them! **_

_**She had to find them.**_

_Because her failures...and her faults...would _disappear_...if..._

_**... If she found them.**_

Yuki did not want to repeat her great failure of before!

Her big failure to **_Zero_**.

But that feeling didn't stop the evil voices.

The voices continued to nurse her pained and broken desperation._ But is it just your failure, Yuki? _The numerous voices in her head sang with malicious intentions. _Is it just your failure only_?

Strangely, those two spiteful questions made something inside Yuki..._pause_.

The thunderstorm of her dark emotions and bitter panic seemed to immediately freeze at her dark new realization.

Was everything Yuki's fault?

Was it really?

**Flash!** _As a dirty, disheveled mess at Kaname's feet, Yuki finally came to herself."I don't want to break his wish." She told Kaname with blood-red eyes. _

_Wasn't this what Zero would have wanted? She thought to herself. Wasn't this what she was suppose to do? _

_"Let's try to be happy." Her ragged cut-up voice told her surprised blood relative. He looked at her like he had never seen her before, and in that shared gaze, Yuki realized that her words were false. _

_They were totally false, but it was all she had to say to him. _

_She wouldn't really be happy, would she?_

_Thus... it would be better for her to die! _

_But... _

_But Zero wanted her to __**live**__ and be __**happy**__. _

_He wanted her to live, and she __**wasn't**__ living. _

_Yet Yuki couldn't really fully live, because she only fully lived when she was with him. _

_Zero was her safety. Zero was her knight. _

_Zero was her heart. Zero was her life._

_Zero was her big bright sun, and her dark world revolved around __**him**__._

_So, she wouldn't really be living. _

_No, she wouldn't really be living or be happy or be the person she once was...so..._

_So Yuki decided that she would live a __**lie**__. _

_She would live a beautiful lie. _

_Because at the end of the day, Yuki Cross-Kuran was really nothing more than a pathetically weak fool. _

_And pathetic weak fools deserved living lies. _

_With that last thought, Yuki fainted at Kaname's clean feet._

As Yuki's mind was trapped in both her dark past and dark present, she _realized_ that while she was here, she was _not_ really here. She was gone but not _completely_ gone.

Despite the hundreds of black ravens that screamed and searched for her children, despite the cold winter wind that ruffled her long white fur coat, despite the icy death rod in her had, Yuki felt like she was living in an illusionary make-believe world.

**Once upon a time, a pure and innocent girl loved a silver-haired knight, but she lost herself, and that pure girl was never seen again. **

That was the life story of the old, pathetic Yuki.

_However_...

Couldn't Yuki create _another_ story?

Couldn't she?

Yuki _could_ create a new story.

She could. _She could. _**She could.**

So, she decided to _try._

For one long moment, Yuki looked up at the silver-blue moon that seemed to hang effortlessly in the cold black night sky.

_**Once upon a time...a powerful queen...**_

But don't stories need a purpose?

Don't stories have reasons?

Don't stories have goals?

Yuki couldn't have a _**new**_ story if it _meant nothing_.

_**Once upon a time...a powerful queen...lost her beloved ones...**_

"_Please be happy, Yuki." Zero's whispers struggled. _

Yuki should have told Zero at that moment so long ago that she could never be truly happy without him...but that didn't matter. One day in her afterlife - when she found him again - she would apologize for all her failures and foolishness.

She would deeply apologize to her lost true love and their lost child when the time finally came.

However, she _did not_ want to apologize to her two s_till-living children_.

_No._

Yuki wasn't going to _lose_ this time.

_**She wasn't going to lose. **_

No, she would not.

So a _new_ story had to be _written_.

_**Once upon a time...a powerful queen...lost her beloved ones...but she found them...and... **_

Suddenly, without the _slightest_ of warnings, a new dark ancient power burst forth.

Yuki felt the very earth and the numerous sky-reaching buildings beneath her feet tremble. Black _**bats**_ of every shape, size, and manner _instantly_ appeared.

Chaos reign.

Yuki's _hundreds_ of black ravens were suddenly overwhelmed by _**thousands**_ of black bats that had unexpectedly appeared before her. The sounds of more glass breaking and windows shattering added to the deafening music of the countless screaming aerial familiars.

However, before Yuki's eyes, a unique flock of bats seemed to crash into each other near the edge the Queen's White building roof. Yuki watched as each crashing bat committed mindless suicide in order to create a mysterious black blob. Nevertheless, that black blob seemed to take on a new and twisting _shape_ with each crashing and dying bat's sacrifice.

This twisting new shape was in the form a well-known male entity to Yuki.

Yuki's scattering mind and lost heart viciously focused.

She knew who _this_ person was.

And the dark and ferocious rage that she had forgotten came back to her broken soul in one blistering _instant_.

**Flash! **_Yuki had never felt so twisted in all her life! _

_She had never felt so madden! She had never felt so wrathful! The passion that she suddenly felt overrode all her sensibilities! _

_**It was Kaname.**_

_**It was Kaname...all... this... time... **_

"_It was you." Yuki said. "It was you all this time." _

_Kaname_ _eyed her carefully. "It was for your own good, Yuki. He would have caused you immense pain when he finally became dust. I only did it to protect you."_

_To..._

_Protect..._

_Me? _

_Yuki could only __**look**__ at him. _

'_To protect her.' _

_Protect her from __**what**__ exactly? _

_True Happiness? True hope? _

_**True love?**_

"_Protect me?" Yuki repeated aloud. "PROTECT ME?" _

_Kaname was __**not**__ her knight. Therefore, Kaname should have __**never**__ claimed to protect her. _

_He didn't protect! _

_He..._

_**He...**_

_"YOU DESTROYED ME!" Yuki screamed. "YOU DESTROYED ME!" _

_**AND NOW SHE WANTED TO DESTROY HIM! **_

As the bats stopped their madness, the new figure revealed his true form.

Dressed in a simple black business suit and a white silk shirt, the garnet-chocolate eyes of the Far Eastern Vampire King, Kamane Kuran, Yuki's husband and the real destroyer of her _life_ – stared at her with an expressionless expression.

An expression that had no guilt, _no shame_, or _**no remorse**_ for his actions.

The numerous voices in her head croon with malevolent glee and they repeated the two wicked questions.

_But is it just your failure, Yuki? _

_Is it just your failure and your failure only_?

**Black silence.**

Kaname noticed that his wife was staring at him with a peculiar silence, but he decided to break it.

"Yuki," Kaname said calmly. "It seems to me that we have a common problem." He emotionlessly said.

For a moment, Yuki was speechless, but she found her voice in the next split second.

"A problem?" Yuki whispered in wondrous incredulity. "A _common_ problem, you say?"

Yuki's dark-brown eyes _flashed_.

Immediately, her two dark-brown orbs were replaced with a hellish crimson hue.

"_Indeed, we have a __**problem**__, Kaname_." Yuki said as she menacingly looked at Kaname. And in the far distant parts of her mental ears, Yuki heard the last shreds of her sanity..._**snap**_.

CRACK. _CRACK_. **CRACK.**

Something in the atmosphere had instantaneously changed.

Kaname realized that something unseen but dreadfully important had happened. Deeply disturbed, Kaname looked into his wife's hellish crimson eyes.

He froze.

By darkness, that _look_...

That _particular_ _look_ was _once again_ in Yuki's eyes!

_The look in that old photograph so long ago... _

"And whose fault is this problem, Kaname?" Yuki stared down her unnerved husband. Kaname's dark eyes saw that Yuki's weapon, the Artemis rod, had re-transformed itself into its deadly ruby-red scythe form. "Yours or mine?"

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N:** Is that a cliff? Why yes it is! XD Maybe I should hold a review ransom for the next chapter, eh? ;P (Dodges a tomato)

On another completely different note, some of my dear readers have asked if I was planning any ZxY lemons in this fic, and to answer that surprising question all I can say is..._whaaa?_

A ZxY lemon?

Honestly, (and _strangely_) that idea hadn't even crossed my mind - _at all_ – until I got that suggestion. 0_0 (I don't even have words to explain why that is - it just is.) Somehow, when I thought/plan 'lemons' for this fic , I always thought yaoi/slash lemons, so the idea of a het lemon hadn't crossed my mind at all. Which is so strange to me when I thought about it! How could I have a KxZxY love triangle without a het lemon? *_* Wasn't I giving Kaname an overwhelming advantage there? XD

I really thought I dropped the ball on that! If I hadn't gotten the suggestion, I probably would have continued on crafting yaoi-only scenes without another thought about it! (Which, I'm sure the KxZ fans are like 'Nooooo! Who dared to remain her of that possibility?' ;3)

So, in a way, thanks for that suggestion! XD It probably helped me balance/re-plan my future intense plotting in the following arcs (All to make things far more complicated and exciting, you know) because that option _should_ have been a part of my thinking. (Which I'm sure the ZxY fans are like 'Well, duh!')

But coming to think about it, a _real_ het lemon only seems possibly to me if Yuki actually manages to 'win' against Kaname in the end! ;D So...I'm not even sure how it will happen, if it happens. 0_0'

But I will maintain that Kaname and Yuki aren't the type of people that would 'share' Zero with each other! Especially in this type of fic/situation! *o* It really is an either/or game with them! Yuki will go all out to get back Zero once she learns he's alive again. (And as an evil author hint because I'm an evil author...the scene of when Yuki and Zero/Silver finally meet for the first time is being crafted as we speak! But don't expect it anytime soon! XD We still have this arc, after all!) However, Kaname is the type of guy to want _**both**_, just like the thousands of powerful kings/rulers of the past who believed they had the 'right' to whoever they choose! Makes me glad I live in a republic country, ya know?

Still, a lot of the upcoming lemons will most likely still be yaoi/slash in nature (Sorry, ZxY fans!) because _Kaname_ obviously doesn't give up his precious people/things without a fight! And the relationship of Kaname and his silver-haired lover is quite twisty and complex! (And it is just going to get even more complex and deep as the story goes on!) ;D

But poor Yuki and Silver/Zero will discover that the _**hard**_ way! XD But at least my Yuki isn't about to allow Kaname to have everything his way! And renewed Zero – well, hot doggit, Kaname isn't going to know what hit him when he finally comes back! XD Ah, these three characters make this story so hard to craft!

**_Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long – I love them all!_**


	70. Chapter 69 Alliance

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

"I do not like that look of yours, my dear African Queen." The Vampire King of Europe, Maxwell Von Anderson, purred as he sharply smiled at her. "You seem to think I'm _up_ to something." His blue eyes seemed to glow with dry amusement.

The Central and Southern Pureblood Vampire Queen of Africa, Queen Biashara Bimnono, looked at the pale European with a neutral expression. A warm cup of tea was held gently in her hands as she stared him down over the video phone.

"I know you, Little Maxy." Biashara quietly warned. "I _know_ you, and so I _know_ that you are itching to get involved in this conflict between them." Her black eyes flashed in warning. "Leave them be."

Maxwell frowned at the mild insult. Sure, Biashara was older than him, but he wasn't a child! "He will end up like _me_, Lady Biashara." Maxwell hissed softly. "He is just like me! And he will _destroy_ just like how _I_ destroy."

"He is not like you." Biashara hissed back. "_Kuran_ is _nothing_ like you, Maxwell."

The proud man glared. "That upstart child is _everything_ like me!" Maxwell argued. "That's why I hate him so! That young little ruler will do _exactly_ what I did so long ago!"

_Upstart child?_ Biashara smirked. _Young little ruler?_

Did Maxwell even know _who_ he was talking about?

King Kuran was many, _many_ things. But a child he was _**not**_. And Biashara was beginning to think he was not at all what he _pretended_ to be.

A pureblood vampire ruler? Yes, he most certainly _was_. That was obviously clear. The man knew the basic rules of power, and he invented _new_ ones like all rulers do.

But a _young_ one?

_**No**__. _

True youth does not have the _type_ of wisdom that Kaname clearly had. And not having true wisdom was the _penalty_ of being young.

It seemed impossible, but Biashara was getting the feeling that the Kuran ruler was not some 'new' pureblood king. She knew it like a lioness could recognize the scent of another predator.

Or an ancient one would know another _ancient_ one.

And in that court session of yesterday, Biashara felt _two_.

However, this _conflict_ was _not_ for outsiders.

History will not repeat itself this time.

The black queen looked down her small nose at her fellow foreign ruler. "Even if that is so, Maxwell, I will _not_ have you influencing _either_ side." Biashara stated. "If at any point, I find that you are interfering...you will find that your existence will be _temporary_." She glared. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, _mother_." Maxwell's blue eyes mocked. Biashara glared, but without another word, Maxwell ended their video call.

Blood never lies, does it? The man was just like his great grandfather.

She should not have raised him.

However, as Queen Bimono drank her lukewarm tea, she suddenly felt vibrations around her.

Power vibrations. _Warring vibrations_. _**Killing vibrations.**_

_Oh, so they were going to fight, were they_? Biashara sighed. What a new problem! Should she get involved?

Biashara thought about it for a moment and came to a decision.

Nope.

She would _not_ get involved with such a thing tonight.

So, the African Pureblood Queen continued to sip on her lukewarm tea. She wasn't about to get caught up in whatever mess was about to start between the Far Eastern royal pair.

No outsiders meant _no_ outsiders after all.

* * *

**Chapter Sixty-Nine: Alliance **

* * *

**Present **

The Royal Korean Governor Byung Gi Kim, Night Lord of Korea Joon Ho Song, and the young Goog Song quietly raced back to the Imperial Palace to their intended places.

Goog was slightly scared, but for once he was comforted.

At least for this next plot, he had his father, the mild-mannered Joon Ho Song, beside him.

So, Goog felt slightly better than he had before.

He wouldn't have to do the most important part of the plan alone, and after he finished this last scheme...he would be home free! Free indeed and _Sosono_ would have to kiss his feet! Without him, this entire plan wouldn't have worked!

_Ha!_ By darkness, it was so troublesome to be _so_ important, you know!

So...why was _his_ hands trembling, eh?

His father, Joon Ho, reached towards his shaking hands. "Do you know what to say to him?" The elder Song squeezed his son's hand tenderly. He gave him a soft look. "You need to be perfect. We just need them to be off the trail for a little while. Perhaps about seven or so hours at the least. Maybe a few days at the most."

"Yeah, yeah." Goog fibbed. He removed his hand from his father's - suddenly embarrassed. "I know what I'm going to say!" He boasted. "I'm not some little kid!" He defended.

Joon Ho gave his only son a small rueful smile.

Which Goog..._returned_.

Heh.

While Goog would have _preferred_ a cooler dad like King Kuran as a father, (But if King Kuran was his real dad, this situation wouldn't even be _needed_) his _real_ one wasn't so bad at times like this.

Really, he wasn't.

Yet one person wasn't at all _touched_ by this brief display of family affection. Governor Byung Gi lightly snorted at the pair, but he said nothing.

Poor souls.

They had _no_ idea what was in store for them.

Alliances were _fools_ was such a terrible thing.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

For a brief moment, Kaname took in his wife.

To put it mildly, she was obviously upset.

"And whose fault is this problem, Kaname?" Queen Yuki Kuran asked in a frighteningly dark feminine tone. "Yours or mine?" She asked him calmly.

Husband and wife were on top of the Imperial's Queen's White Building's roof top. The silver-blue moon's light was ghostly, and the air had a fresh and biting chill. There was a slow cold wind coming from the east – announcing to all the inhabitants of that far eastern island that a new shower of cold rain or harsh snow was quickly approaching them.

Kaname stared at his wife.

Her long but simple white dress danced in the cold night breeze as her long white fur coat flowed around her like a liquid shield, and Yuki's heavily perfumed scent saturated the midnight air. Her long black hair was held together in a tight big bun, and her expressive dark-brown eyes were engulfed by lavender eye shadow. Her small lips were covered in dark plum lipstick, and she wore a few simple silver jewelry pieces. Her nails were painted with a bright silver color, and in her tightly clenched and bleeding hands, Kaname noticed that her beloved old weapon, the Artemis rod, was in its deadly ruby-red scythe form.

Like two massive columns of war-harden soldiers, their countless aerial familiars – black bats and black ravens – surrounded the confrontational royal pureblood couple. Each familiar creatures' eyes were glowing red as they stared at their owner's enemy and both purebloods knew that the other was using their familiars to detect any weaknesses they could take advantage of in the other. However, while Yuki's black ravens numbered in the _hundreds_, Kaname's black bats were numbered in the _**thousands**_. The difference in sheer power, even at such an amazing display, was obvious.

Nevertheless, in Yuki's dark-brown eyes, Kaname saw a powerful and dark violent _**rage**_. It promised a murderous intention, and was decorated with a vengeful and malicious gleam.

And all of that dark emotion of Yuki's was aimed _directly_ at him.

Kaname was momentarily speechless.

In all honesty, Yuki had _never_ looked so beautiful to him before.

The Far Eastern King reflected on his heart's words.

_And whose fault is this problem, Kaname?_

_Yours or mine?_

Kaname narrowed his dark-chocolate eyes a bit as he considered her two odd questions. A possible answer immediately came to him, but he decided to say nothing for another minute as he considered their present state.

Yuki looked ready to rip out his throat.

Just like that one moment a year ago before. The moment she discovered his first true sin.

So, the rage was _familiar_. The darkness and the trueness of it summoned back the painful memories of that past loss of his. He lost her then, he realized. _He lost her then._ **But he refused to let her go.**

Yuki was his. And _his_ _**only**_.

He would never allow her to leave him.

**Never**.

However, even _Kaname_ was pragmatic enough to realize that Yuki, _herself_, obviously didn't believe that she was _**owned by him**_. It was obvious in the way that she was clearly being so rebellious and illogical as of late. She _truly_ believed _she_ was _her own person_. That she had the right to do as _she_ chooses. That she did not _want_ or _need_ him.

Kaname was going to destroy those false illusions of hers _tonight_.

What illusions - one could say?

Well, the _false_ illusion that Yuki was her own _independent_ person. The false belief that she did not _belong_ to him. The false deception that he did not _own_ her. The lie that she could _separate_ herself from his heart and be separated from him. That what was once _one_, could now be _two_. _**That**_ was the real cause of all this. The cause of all these _problems_.

These false beliefs of Yuki's were the cause – _**the fault**_ - of all these troubles.

Yuki was rebelling. _She was resisting._ **She was defying him**.

And because of that, Yuki wanted to _fight_ **against** him.

Watching her, Kaname noted that she was using her familiars and her eyesight, to look for her chance of weakness. That was probably the only reason why she had not attacked him yet. He knew that if he made _one_ wrong move, no matter how _small_, she was going to attack him like a wild, terrifying, but oh-so-beautiful beast.

Or like a mad dog.

The feeling of crushing tension was dripping in the air between the two spouses. The events of old and the present events of the First Court Session were still fresh, and the feelings of emotions between the two were quite raw.

In spite of this, despite everything, Kaname cared _deeply_ for his wife. _**He really did**_. If Kaname could say one thing on this night, he would say three important words.

Kaname _loved_ Yuki.

He _honestly_ did. Those three words were extremely true in _every_ possible way.

She was _so_ important to him. _So_ valuable. _So_ needed.

But even with that inner _**knowledge...**_he couldn't stop himself from always _hurting_ her in some way.

He hurt her the most, but he still loved her dearly.

Somehow, someway, he was going to make it up to her.

But that was neither here nor there.

The current situation before them couldn't be resolve if they were at each other throats.

Kaname finally decided on what he needed to say in reply.

"Whose fault do I think this is, Yuki?" Kaname reflected her question, and he saw her hold herself stiffly. "Yours or mine?" He shook his head and gave her a tired frown.

Kaname looked her directly in the eyes. Garnet-chocolate irises greeted flashing red dark-brown orbs. "Isn't it _**both**_ our faults, my heart?" He lightly asked.

Yuki felt like she had been slapped.

Both our faults?

_Both our faults? _

**BOTH OUR FAULTS? **

Yuki's flashing red eyes became a perfect crimson hue. "By what insane _logic_ is this _both of our faults_, Kaname?" Yuki spat out as she readied her weapon to strike!

But Kaname's dark eyes glowed with an ancient imperial _**warning**_.

Oh, Kaname knew exactly what _he_ _wished_ to say. However, he also knew that saying such things at this moment would not be the best time to point out such a glaring truth.

Of course, this was _**both**_ their faults!

They were not just husband and wife - they were _also_ **King** and **Queen**.

Did she think that the _business_ of running the _kingdom_ would be put _**on hold**_ just because of _their_ worthless internal conflict? In fact, one could almost say that this situation/problem probably wouldn't have happened if _Yuki_ hadn't been so reckless as to announce to the _**world**_ their obvious separation and partition. After all, wouldn't such a thing give their _**numerous**_ enemies a chance to _**attack**_ them?

While Kaname had protected his children from the worst of the assaults and conflicts, he daily faced, Yuki had been exposed to the dark dealings within and without the Far Eastern Royal Court. Because of her period of madness before, Yuki had become the force to be reckon with that she was today. That five year period had been both a _blessing_ and a _curse_ in a way. While Kaname, at times, dearly missed his _old_ Yuki terribly, he couldn't really find much fault with the _new_ Yuki he had now. The old Yuki would have never survived what this new Yuki had. The old Yuki would have never done what this Yuki would and could do. And even _Kaname_ had to admit that this new Yuki's insight into some of their past enemies and conflicts had been _invaluable_ to his reign.

Yuki's support was a key asset for Kaname's sovereignty.

_**And**_ Yuki's small pale hands were _stained_ with as much **blood** as _his_ was.

Both were stained. Both were cruel. Both were dark.

Every day, Yuki was reflecting more and _more_ of his likeness, and Kaname couldn't really find a _flaw_ in such a thing.

Yuki was _vampire_. Yuki was _pureblood_. Yuki was also a _ruler_.

_**Of course, she should be just like him. **_

Kaname decided to bring her up to speed on this current truth.

"The _business_ of the kingdom will not be put on hold because of _our_ conflict, my heart." Kaname flatly started. "I'm not sure if you realized it, but not even three weeks ago, did I have to deal with _another_ rebellious attack against our throne." Kaname said.

The rage that was in Yuki's eyes seemed to flicker with shock at his words. "Another attack?" She lightly gasped, but her hands clutched her scythe even more tightly. "By who?" She whispered.

Kaname pounced on his chance. "In one of our territory kingdoms – The Korean Vampire Realm – 200 humans were massacred by a group of rebel purebloods." Kaname mercilessly informed her.

Yuki felt like she awoken from a terrible dream, but her reality was just like a nightmare. Her rage at Kaname was momentarily paused for her horrified shock.

"200 humans were recently _**massacred**_?" Yuki's eyes rapidly blinked in distress. Humans were hurt by _her_ kind _once again_? Another deep fury erupted inside Yuki's chest. "Why was I not informed of this?" She hissed.

By darkness, how in the world did Yuki not know something like that had recently happened? How? Had she really been so consumed by her grief that the world was simply passing her by?

Kaname sighed. A childish part of him wanted to point out that her little declaration of divorce and courtroom show had thrown all his current plans and plots out the window, but that wasn't really something that needed to be said, was it?

On the other hand, a lightning bolt of insight hit Yuki with Kaname's additional information. "Are _they_ the ones behind our children's capture?" Yuki rapidly asked.

Now it was Kaname's turn to stare at her in shock.

_Our children? _

_Capture?_

_**By darkness, how could such a thing be possible? **_

Yet Kaname instantly remembered a recent exchange. _"My King," Kain's golden-brown eyes looked nervous. "I believe there is an assassination attempt on your life currently occurring." _

Kaname's indolent mind came _alive_.

Broken energy shields. A crying Juri. A missing Silver. An explosion. An enraged pureblood mother. Our children. His children.

All the pieces suddenly clicked into place.

A feeling of fatherly fury roused so quickly inside him that Kaname could _hardly_ _see_. "Are you for certain that Juri _and_ Haruka are captured?" He snapped back. Juri he could understand (sadly), but how did _Haruka_ get capture by his enemies as well?

But, without warning, _another_ dark thought chilled him as _another_ memory assaulted his quick mind.

_"I d-don't know, your highness." His elderly Butler said. "The last I saw of her, she was running away crying and...her bodyguard...was rushing right after her!"_

_Silver_ had been chasing after Juri.

_**He had been chasing after her! **_

By darkness, had he _also_ been attacked and taken?

"_**I will always be here beside you."**__ Silver lovingly whispered and promised into his exhausted right ear._

Kaname's heart felt like it was stabbed by hundreds of different pointy blades.

His _love..._and his children..._taken_?

Kaname's heart bled.

Needless to say, Yuki's sudden revengeful fury at Kaname was instantly muted at the new revelations. While she _still_ wanted to rip this monster of a man into bloody pieces and avenge Zero's death with her two hands, the sudden reminder of her two children...utterly _destroyed_ her murderous resolve.

Juri and Haruka were kidnapped.

She knew it.

She knew it with a bone-deep understanding that only a _mother_ could know.

Recklessly, Yuki reached out to pull on her vampire mother-child bonds she had with them. Bonds so strong that nothing could mute or destroy them until her children came of age. However, while the bonds informed Yuki that they were still..._alive_, she could feel nothing _more_.

A stormy silence swallowed up Yuki's heart.

She remembered the last two things she heard her children say to her.

_**"Mother!"**__ Haruka's attention snapped to her. He smelt her tears! "__**Mother, what is wrong**__?" Haruka was slightly panicking._

_Juri's crying dark-brown eyes suddenly became very furious. "__**I hate you, mama! I **__**hate**__** you**__!" And then she rushed out from Yuki's room without another word._

Those words could not be the last ones she would hear from her children.

**It. Could. Not. Be. **

So while Yuki wanted to _desperately_ hurt Kaname.

Unfortunately, that would have to _wait_.

Taking in her speechless husband, Yuki finally decided to lower her weapon. She could feel the weapon groan with disappointment that it would be denied new blood and flesh to feast on, but Yuki couldn't focus on such a thing now.

Yuki's soul bubbled. "Do you think that its these rebel _Koreans_ who have taken our children?" Yuki asked as her weapon returned to his rod form, and her black raven familiars' ruby-red eyes became black.

Kaname snapped back to reality at his wife's words. "It is a _possibility_, my heart." Kaname admitted. However, in spite of this, as soon as the words left Kaname's mouth, his eyes seemed to flash with a few new insights of his own on this entire drama.

The rebel Korean Purebloods.

Ah, yes.

Kanane had _yet_ to deal with those accursed rebels. And due to the close nature to this rebellious attack to his personhood...could they, _perhaps_, be behind this _latest_ attack against him?

The probability that it was them was nearly 77%.

And if they were – _**how bold.**_

How _extremely_ **bold** of them.

His son, his daughter, and mostly like his _ideal lover_ was _taken_.

Captured.

_**Kidnapped. **_

This was _not_ going to be _overlooked_ this time.

Conversely, Kaname did not get to the top of the world by being so hasty in his judgments. There was always a possibility that this could be the work of _another_ unknown enemy.

There is always another enemy.

But at least this situation provided Kaname a _perfect_ opportunity.

Both for himself...and his personal life.

He almost sadistically grinned.

Possibilities. Probabilities. Prospectives.

"_**But**_ we shouldn't judge it so quickly." Kaname said, mostly to himself. However, without warning, Yuki saw Kaname's eyes gleam.

Despite Kaname's internal divergence of dark and convoluted emotions due to this sudden ordeal, Kaname could recognize a potential _golden_ opportunity _anywhere_ and at _anytime_.

It was a basic war truth - the enemy of my enemies is my friend.

Kaname looked at his wife, and his lips now curled into a dark smile. "Let us not judge so quickly, my heart." Kaname repeated again. "After all, _**we**_ have _so_ many enemies."

Yuki froze at his words.

_We have so many enemies. _

**We. **

Yuki looked at her darkly smiling husband.

_**We. **_

No matter how much she _hated_ that truth...it was _still_ the truth...wasn't it?

She and him. Him and her.

They may furiously hate each other (Well, she more than him) , but their enemies wouldn't really care about that, now, would they? In fact, they were probably _extremely happy_ that the ultimate power couple was _warring_ against each other at this moment.

Yuki looked up at the midnight sky.

For an insane moment, she wondered if Zero was looking down at her from heaven with a piercing but intensely understanding gaze.

She could imagine what Zero would have said to her if he was here.

Something flashed before her naked eyes. _"Find the children, Yuki. Find them first."_A ghostly figure said to her. In front of her and touching her right check, Yuki briefly saw a person who had short silver hair, pure lavender eyes, and who had the rich scent of sandalwood and lavender.

Yuki couldn't breathe.

But as quickly as she felt Zero's so-real-presence in her heart, his sudden false-near and false-real specter was instantly gone when her crazy visional flash ended.

By darkness, Yuki was _**insane**_. She was _totally_ _**insane**_ to the point that she wanted to scream and cry.

But she had a new story now, didn't she?

A brand new story...

_**Once upon a time, a powerful queen lost her beloved ones, but she **__**found**__** them...**_

Yuki returned her dark gaze back at her husband's eyes. Kaname's eyes were so _expressive_. Normally, they were like hers – a soft dark-brown color. However, when he was excited with a new possibility, a new chance, or a new hope, they always turned into that odd garnet-chocolate color. However, when he was out of control or passionate, his eyes morphed into a clear crimson.

Now, his eyes were a garnet-chocolate color.

Kaname didn't even have to say it for her to understand what he intended.

Yuki felt time die.

They..._**needed**_...each other if they were to find and save their two children - the levelheaded and practical Haruka, and the bright and optimistic Juri.

To protect.

_To save. _

**To find.**

She must. _She must_..._**They must**_...

"We will form an alliance, Kaname." Yuki listlessly said, as her heart transformed into ice.

Die, _die_, **die**.

Bury, _bury_, **bury**.

Die, Yuki. Please just bury your heart again.

Yuki looked at Kaname steadily without a shred of fear and a future dark promise. "For now, we will join as _one_ to save _our children_ from **our enemies**." She forbiddingly said.

Kaname's eyes flashed with delight. "I accept this alliance, Yuki." He purred with satisfaction. "We will find them if it is the last thing we do." He promised with a vengeful smile. "_Together_."

_**Once upon a time, a powerful queen lost her beloved ones, but she found them by selling her soul to a monster.**_

**To be Continued **

* * *

**A/N: **Ho Ho! I don't think I need to tell my precious readers how off-the-wall things could possibly go from here on out, do I? XD The race is on! I can't wait to read everyone's review responses. Do you think Sosono and company will succeed with their plot? What will happen to the trio - Silver, Juri, and Haruka? (Evil author grin time) What will happen if Yuki finds Silver/Zero first _before_ Kaname, eh? (Mysterious author whistle) But I'm not giving out any clues, my dear readers! You'll all just have to wait and see! XD Who knows what will happen! X3

Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long – I love them all! XD


	71. Chapter 70 Digression

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**101 Years Ago **

It was late morning.

The sun was shining. The birds were singing, and a warm spring breeze was drifting through Kaname's new mansion walls.

Two young vampire women were up late in the library – one was a bit annoyed because she was missing her beauty sleep, while the other was looked spacey and...really _sad_.

Over the corners of her book, the noble vampire woman, Ruka Souen, shook her head wearily as she silently watched the newly awaken, Pureblood Vampire, Yuki Cross-Kuran, steal many sad glances at something hidden in her small hands. Ruka knew the girl was pretending to read one of her many vampire etiquette books, but it was clear to her that she was doing something else entirely.

Ruka felt like rolling her eyes at the girl. _Honestly_. How exactly did this spacey and odd girl turn out to not only be a pureblood but also the woman whom her Kaname desperately loved?

_How? _

By darkness, life was _not_ fair! It wasn't fair at all!

But Ruka kept her mouth shut and just watched the newly awaken pureblood girl. Their latest etiquette lessons had ended hours ago, but Yuki decided to stay at the library to read up more on vampire history and culture. However, in the last few hours, Ruka had watched Yuki steal countless glances at something in her hand that was hidden by the nameless book. Honestly, Ruka did not really care either way, (Well, in a mean way she _did_ care. After all, the noble was still somewhat spiteful against the girl and darkly hoped she would embarrass Kaname in some way by not knowing the protocols of their world), but she decided to stay with the weirdly _lucky_ girl.

For the hundredth time, Yuki Cross-Kuran stole another glance at the small picture she had in her hand.

Okay now, she was just getting _too_ pathetic. Really, _really_ pathetic. She had done what she had done and that should be the end of it. There should be no need for her to keep looking back. No need at all! After all, Yuki done what she knew what was best. She had! She really had. And he...

_**And he... **_

By darkness, it was getting late, so Yuki really needed to go to sleep. _Really_. She had to. Sleep was good. Sleep was wonderful. Sleep was great. _But_...

But Yuki knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep any time soon. She just knew it.

_Why? _

**Because Zero Kiryu loved her.**

Yuki felt a few tears form in her dark-brown eyes, but she blinked them away.

Once again, (for the thousandth time) Yuki looked at her precious picture of Zero Kiryu. The picture that she had of him was a very old one, but it was still the only one she had of him. _The only one._ The Zero in the picture looked so young compared to what he looked like now, but that didn't mean anything to Yuki. Even when she looked at it, her mind could summon the perfect copy image of Zero in his present state, yet still, there was something _special_ about this old Zero. Something really special, because this Zero..._**this Zero**_... knew her before _everything_ changed. This Zero knew her before their twin lives were ripped apart forever. This Zero knew her when she was once a... _creature of the light_.

This picture was when he was fourteen, and she was thirteen on some long-ago winter day. As he was doing his latest block of homework, Zero had been surrounded by tons of books and white papers as he sat on the wooden floor in their old home. However, what was really special about this moment in time was that it was the first time that Yuki had realized that yes, _indeed_, Zero was actually a _boy_.

_A boy! _

Not just a friend, but a friend who was a _boy!_

_Goodness!_

The sudden revelation had been so shocking to her that Yuki, without even thinking about it, snapped a quick picture shot of Zero when he wasn't looking – just so that _she_ could _confirm_ to herself that she wasn't just _seeing_ things! However, when Zero figured out what she had weirdly done, it was one of the odd times that he had gotten really, _really_ _**cocky**_!

"_If you wanted a picture of me __**that**__ badly, I could have given you a better one_!" Zero said with wiggling silver eyebrows and a teasing wink. Then he made a bunch of mocking male model poses like he was in a Vogue magazine! "_Come now, I'll give you all the pics you could like!"_ He drily teased. _"I'm far better than those Twilight posters and Justin Bieber ones you got in your room!" _

The thirteen-year-old Yuki's face became a _tomato_ on the spot! She desperately wished the ground to open up and eat her! _Goodness!_ Zero always pretended to be a great big icy hunter to everyone else, but to _her_, he acted like a _teasing_ prankster!

But as Yuki continued to stare at the old and small picture of him in her hands...she nearly wept.

By darkness, Zero loved her.

He loved her...after _everything_ that has happened.

After he had bit her and revealed himself to be an ex-human vampire, after she had become a pureblood herself, after they had fought together and against each other and _for_ each other...after _everything_ they had been through...Zero _**loved**_ her.

Yuki felt a painful twisting in her dark soul.

Zero _still_ loved her..., and that fact **hurt**.

It **hurt** very, _very_ **much**.

Yuki remembered what happen a few nights ago.

_**FLASH!**_

_It happened without the slightest bit of reason. It happened without Yuki ever expecting it. It happened...and Yuki felt her __**soul**__**come alive for the**__**first time in her entire life**__. _

_Zero was kissing her – kissing her, __**kissing her**__, **kissing her!** _

_His strong hands gently grabbed the back of her head, and his long fingers were delicately trapped in her short hair. His warm smooth lips fearlessly but gently met Yuki's cold ones, and he kissed her with a controlled but overwhelmingly passion that made her feel alive! _

_Yuki's small hands found themselves gripping Zero's freshly ironed suit, and she returned his kiss will a fieriness that she never knew she possessed. _

_**I love this man.**__ Yuki thought to herself. __**I really and truly love this man. **__And because of it,__Yuki felt like killing herself or stopping herself or losing herself, but, but, but..._

_This had to stop! This had to stop right __**now**__! _

_**I love him, but...**__Yuki felt like she was going to die. __**I love him...but...**_

_This had to stop right now! __**It had too!**__ Because if she continued to do this, if she continued along this path, if she continued to __**love**__ him...she would __**hurt**__ him. She would hurt him __**terribly**__, because she was now a monster of the night. _

_The very thing that Zero utterly hated. _

_Yuki suddenly broke their kiss and when she looked at Zero - her heart screamed. When she briefly stared into his clear lavender eyes, she saw his total heartbreak – the intense pain at her supposed rejection. _

_**Zero's heartbreak. **_

_By darkness, Yuki saw it at that moment, and she __**hated**__ herself. Hated herself evermore completely because she was always, always, always caused him pain. _

_Always! _

_Always! __**Always**__! __**ALWAYS**__!_

_Stupid Yuki! Stupid, __**stupid **__**girl**__! You aren't doing what you are supposed to do! _

_Yuki wanted to cry. She wanted to desperately __**cry**__. _

_If only Kaname didn't desperately need her...If only she was not the thing that Zero really hated... If only she was not the thing that would end up destroying him... _

_If only, __**if only**__, __**if only**__..._

_If only she had stayed human...if only she hadn't been changed back into her true self... if only she was a normal __**human**__ girl...she would be free to be with him._

_If only, __**if only**__, __**if only**__..._

_If only she was not the very thing that always kept on hurting him!_

_By darkness! By night! By blood! By all things that vampires swear on, Yuki desperately wished she was not the __**beast**__ in human form that Zero __**should**__ have seen, but clearly __**didn't**__. _

_This was why she needed to stop it! This was why she must end their relationship! _

_Yuki was beast. She was a beast! _

_And Zero could not be in love with a beast!_

_The more time she had spent with Kaname, the more she realized it. She realized her true dark nature. She realized her darker thoughts. She realized the happiness one could feel when she crushed a hated enemy. Or when she commanded and bossed around a weaker soul. She realized the sinister level of joy she felt when she caused pain. _

_A monster, a beast..._

_She realized that her old self would have been __**horrified**__ to learn of what she was becoming and what she was – deep down inside. _

_She was a stupid, ugly pureblood vampire beast. A stupid ugly beast, and stupid ugly beasts always hurt the ones they love the most._

_**Always**__. _

_Zero was not a part of the darkness. Zero was not a part of the night. Zero was not a part of the shadows. At his core...Zero was a __**human**__ being. _

_A natural human being at his core and __**not**__ an unnatural vampire one. _

_Yuki's heart was ripped to pieces. Zero was a human and she...__**and she**__..._

_Yuki...was...a...vampire ..._

_**A vampire. **_

_By darkness, she was a vampire. _

_Yuki felt like crying. She felt like crying for one hundred years! _

_Zero was an inhabitant of the daylight world. Yuki was an inhabitant of the nightfall world. Zero was a creature of the sun. Yuki was a creature of the moon. Zero was a being from the world of life and light. Yuki was a being of the world of death and shadow. _

_Zero might have been forcible changed into a vampire, but that didn't change what he really and truly was. Just like Yuki had once pretended to be a human, but couldn't really change what she really was._

_If Zero continued to __**come after her**__, if Zero continued to __**care for her**__...__**he would be destroyed**__. Destroyed by a stupid, stupid girl beast and a useless idiot. _

_So, without thinking another thought about it and with tears in her dark-brown eyes, Yuki bit Zero. _

_**Hard. **_

_She bit Zero right on his undefeated neck. Undefeated because Zero __**trusted**__ her. Trusted her, cared for her, and saw her for something __**she was not**__. Zero saw her as a beautiful and pure angel, but Yuki knew the truth. She knew the truth about herself, and she wished the truth was a lie. She was a demon. A monster. And the proof was happening right insider her now._

_Yuki felt the darkness inside her awaken. _

_The taste of Zero's pure and heady blood was like a rich virgin wine, and her baser instincts went wild! Her darker beast wanted to totally consume this person's life. Totally. It wanted to drink in every ounce of his crimson essence. Consume him. Devour him. Make him a part of herself forever... _

_And Zero...__**wouldn't **__**stop**__ her if she consumed him. He would never yell, 'Stop, Yuki! Stop it!' because he...because he... _

_**Because he loved her. **_

_He __**loved**__ her. _

_She could __**taste**__ and __**feel**__ and __**smell**__ and __**see**__ that he __**loved**__ her. _

_Zero loved Yuki with all his heart. Nothing she did would be wrong in his clear lavender eyes._

_But because of that – he would be hurt. He would be hurt, and he would suffer... _

_Tremendously. _

_Yuki's heart was crying, but she pressed on with her life-saving mission. __**I have to erase the human Yuki he remembers. The Yuki that he loves.**__ Yuki thought to herself. __**I have to erase it, or he'll always be in pain because of me.**_

_And when Zero fainted from the massive amount of blood loss, that was what she did._

_She erased the old memories of the human and light Yuki from Zero's sleeping mind. _

Listlessly, Yuki looked at a large library mirror and saw the dark bags beneath her eyes.

She would not be sleeping at all tonight as well.

A few nights ago, she erased _all_ of Zero's memories of the human Yuki. She had erased all traits of the Yuki he remembered that wasn't a monster. That wasn't a beast who needed blood to survive. The old human Yuki that she believed Zero desperately loved the most would forever be gone from his mind. Gone forever and that knowledge...hurt.

It **hurt** _enormously_.

Yuki _knew_ that Zero cared for her and loved her. She _knew_ it and, perhaps, she _always_ knew it. In addition, if she was honest to herself, she loved him _equally_ desperately back.

She loved him like he was her sun.

_But_...but she had to _end_ it. She could destroy him in a blink of an eye if she _didn't_.

Zero only loved her now, because of his love for her back then.

And she wasn't that 'Yuki' anymore. Yuki the human. Yuki the Light.

No, she wasn't.

This new Yuki, Yuki the Dark, wanted to consume and hurt Zero.

If she kept reaching to him, she would destroy him. She knew it. Kaname had warned her as much, and she felt her darker nature _push_ her to do it. And, by darkness, Yuki would _never_ be able to forgive herself if Zero was _killed_ because of her. _Never_. She wouldn't be able to survive it!

Even though she freely drank Kaname's blood – and his was _very_ delicious in its own unique way - her inner beast didn't really _care_ for it. Not at all. Every day and at every single waking moment, Yuki was desiring _Zero's_ blood more and more. She would feel her heart pound at his smallest of touches. She could feel it in the way her hands would slightly shake when he held hers. She could feel her fangs lengthen when she saw his pale and defenseless neck.

Her inner beast wanted to _devour_ _Zero_.

She _wouldn't_ allow it.

She would not allow Zero to _die_ because of her.

_**...But...**_

Yuki asked Kaname about it. She had asked him distraughtly and Kaname – calm, kind, sweet, and patience Kaname - had told her that a pureblood's basest instincts was to devour and destroy. _Devour and destroy._ Just like the fairy tale monsters of old. Therefore, they could not be with other low-level vampires or timely humans for too long because if they were around them for too long, they would end up hurting those precious creatures. Purebloods would hurt and destroy them because that was the pureblood's _nature_.

Purebloods are rulers and destroyers. _Rulers and destroyers._ And destruction and ruin always followed when purebloods decided to stupidly latch on to things that they could easily damage.

Kaname had told her, and Yuki believed him.

Now, Zero would _only_ see her as the monster she really was. He would finally see it and thus stop coming after her and hurting himself. He would now be able to keep a large distance away from the thing that could terribly hurt him..., and she would _eventually_ hurt him..._but_...

But Yuki loved him.

Yuki loved Zero.

She _loved_ him - but she would be his _destruction _if they continued along this path.

Meanwhile, in a far-off couch, a new light bulb went off in Ruka's head as she watched Yuki – yet again – stare off into space.

Ah, she finally knew what was up.

Honestly, what did Kaname see in this nitwit? Could someone _please_ tell her what he honestly saw? What was it? _What did he see?_

Loudly sighing and pressed her lips together tightly in a thin line, Ruka snapped. "You are still thinking about the ex-human, aren't you?" She annoying intoned.

Something in Yuki's large dark-brown eyes flashed. "_No_. No, I wasn't." She quickly said.

What a terrible lie.

Her speech was far too quick. If Yuki wanted to be believed she should have said it slowly. By darkness, was Ruka going to have to start from the beginning with her again?

Annoyed, Ruka hissed her teeth. "Why do you continue to look after that ex-human, Yuki? You are a pureblood vampire!" _And you have Kaname_ – but Ruka wasn't about to say that out loud, so instead she said, "Stop thinking about someone who isn't for you!" _And just focus on Kaname, you silly girl._ She wanted to add, but stopped herself. _Focus just on him_.

However, now caught red-headed, Yuki genuinely stared at Ruka, and all of Ruka's mean thoughts went out of her head. Ruka's brown eyes widen at the sheer amount of emotion she saw in Yuki's dark-brown orbs.

"I was thinking, if I could become someone who Zero needs – that wouldn't hurt him - then I could say good-bye to that me. But..." And here, Yuki smiled so sadly that Ruka's ice-witch heart froze. "But he is always in pain because of me. He is always in pain, and I don't want him to hurt anymore."

Ruka shook her head. "You are a pureblood vampire, Yuki." She lightly said. Something told her to treat the younger girl more kindly. "So, you and him aren't meant to be." She delicately said.

In Yuki's dark-brown eyes, Ruka saw a wretchedness so great that she could hardly breathe.

"I...I-I..._may_ be a p ureblood vampire..." Yuki started to say, but her voice started to chock. "A-And that is the _one_ thing Zero _despises_..." And without warning, large buckets of tears started to pour from the base of her eyes. "B-But I _can't_ help the fact that..._that_... I-I... I _still_ want to see _him_."

* * *

**Chapter Seventy: Digression **

* * *

**Present **

As his pearl hoop earrings gleamed in the moonlight, Sakusei Sukakasi decided that this moment would be perfect for some unique torture.

Why one could ask?

Well, _currently_, he was physically torturing a high-ranking prison guard of Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island. It was by sheer luck that he had found the man so quickly while he was on vacation leave in Tokyo, but once Sakusei found (Kidnapped, really) him, he offered him two paths.

The easy path or the hard path.

The easy path was a bunch of money wired to his bank account immediately. The hard path was torture.

The honorable fool chose the hard path. (Why did they _always_ choose the hard path?)

Nevertheless, Sukusei didn't feel too _sad_ about it! After all, it had been awhile since he had to do such newbie work! And torturing fools was quite fun! No, really! Seeing a person's blood drip, or watching their eyes painful bleed was very, _very_ entertaining! However, the fool obviously wasn't breaking _fast_ enough. So Sakusei decided he would have to kick things up a notch!

After all, Sukusei _was_ in service to the Far Eastern Queen.

And while _physical_ torture was _great_...nothing could beat _mental_ torture.

_**Absolutely nothing. **_

The Criminal Noble Vampire Line of Sukakasi were notorious in many ways, but what really made their numerous enemies tremble with fear, and dread was their clan's twin gifts of mental illusions, delusions, and deceptions, and the power to break into another's mind. Usually, a vampire of the Sukakasi line either had only _one_ of those unique abilities. However, his late older brother, Masashi-nissan, had not only been a master of deadly tortuous illusions, but he also had the power to break into cracking minds.

Really, life wasn't quite fair.

Sakusei, himself, only had the sole ability of mental illusion.

Fortunately, it was enough for his purposes.

While some fellow noble vampire persons and clans could manipulate others through illusions, none had the ability to the degree the members of the Sukakasi line had. Most illusion users based the art on the vision aspect, but the Sukakasi line of Illusion Masters could craft an illusion that incorporated _all_ the physical senses.

And the mind is such a _fragile_ thing.

Sakusei Sukakasi smirked.

Mental torture, it is.

"What do you hate the most, my dear?" Sakusei asked the bleeding bodyguard, but the man looked at him hatefully. Sakusei's grin widened. Oh, this was quite the treat. "What do you fear the most, my darling?" But the man sneered a dark warning at him. How amusing. How _very_ amusing. "What do you love the most, my love?" The bleeding victim was about to curse him out, but it was _too_ late.

The spell had been weaved, and the man was instantly trapped in a terrible real-false dream world.

He was trapped in an illusion that was the embodiment of his worst nightmare.

And, after a few minutes, Sakusei heard the delightful music of a broken man's screams.

Ah, he would get his information _soon_ enough.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

_Quite frankly, one would think that such a privileged and rich witch such as myself would have fewer problems. _Mrs. Souen-Kain thought grimly to herself.

Well, Ruka Souen-Kain was a great many things.

She was a beloved woman and an adored bitch. She was a chilling noble vampire, and an icy witch. She was a power player in the night world, and a much-loved wife. She was the haggard mother of an airy teenage daughter, and a complicated fraud.

But most of all, Ruka was a big charlatan.

A big, bitchy, and icy hypocrite.

But as the Mistress of Court Function, Lady Ruka Souen-Kain, grimly looked around the circular table at the gathered inhabitants inside of a non-descript conference room of The Imperial Hotel. However, while Ruka could keep her typical ice witch princess mask on, internally, she was completely flabbergasted as to this new change of events.

For the first time in over a year, all members of the inner circle of the Far Eastern Vampire Court would be present for an urgent meeting.

_**All members.**_

Just minutes ago, Kaname and Yuki commanded all of them to meet with him and her immediately. The two were making their way down towards them at this very minute.

By blood's darkness, what in the world was going on?

Sitting right next to her was her quiet and practical husband, 1st Commander of the Armed Vampire Forces, Akatsuki Kain. Beside him and on her far right was an owl-eyed Takuma Ichijo and equally owl-eyed Hanabusa Aido, the King's Right and Left Arms, respectively. Sitting on her left-hand side was 2nd Commander of the Armed Vampire Forces, the purpled-haired and weirdly (for her) nervous-looking Seiren. Next to Seiren's right side was the rarely-alert looking Senri Shiki (aka The Dark Lord of Vampire Media) and beside him was the Queen's Left Arm, Rima Touya.

The King's Faction and The Queen's Faction were once again assembled for an important meeting.

Ruka blinked.

_Nope_. This _apparently_ wasn't some weird dream!

Still, everyone in the room looked nervous. There had been a massive explosion, and they had all felt Yuki's unleashed wrath and Kaname's untamed and unchecked power. Ruka expected the hotel they were staying in to be blown to tiny bits with the fast-approaching fight, and hundreds of vampires were screaming in terror at the dangerous clashing auras, but without warning, the killing auras had completely disappeared.

_Completely. _

Like it didn't even happen.

And now, _Kaname_ and _Yuki_ summoned a meeting together.

_**Together**_, she said!

By darkness, what in the world was going on?

In less important news, Ruka decided that she was going to have to re-dye her hair later because she felt like she was getting _old_. Way too old to be dealing with all these rapidly changing events. She didn't feel like she wasn't able to understand all these new dealings, and everything was happening so rapidly that Ruka could feel herself grow a few new gray hairs.

Damn you old age! And damn you stupid hair! Even a mean witch like her needs to keep her looks during times of severe stress!

In more important news, Ruka was deeply conflicted.

The two revelations that she learned of last night had completely destroyed her entire world.

Last night was _so_ terrible.

First, Yuki pretty much declared a cold civil war against Kaname.

Second, Kaname had been the one that had been behind Kiryu's murder.

She never _expected_ this! She never expected this _at all_!

Going into this, Ruka thought Yuki had been completely off her rocker, but once she left that golden room, she felt so _bad_ for her stupid thoughts. Everything that Yuki and Rima had done suddenly made so much _sense_ to her.

The five years of madness one hundred years ago. The bloody fight between them last year. Their long separation. Yuki's awful spite. Kaname's grudging malice.

Everything that happened suddenly made so much sense.

By darkness, Kaname was the one behind the ex-human's kidnapping and murder.

Kaname was the one that murdered Yuki's true-love mate, Zero Kiryu.

By night, Ruka could only _imagine_ how Yuki felt. While she really loved Akatsuki deeply, she and he only had a consort-level bond, and that was more than enough to keep her steady and sane.

Ruka felt so terribly, _terribly_ bad for Yuki. So, terribly bad did she feel.

Once, long ago, Ruka wished to be in Yuki's position.

Since she was a child, Ruka had been loyally tied to Kaname. The Souen Family were pro-monarchy, just like the Aido, Kain, and Toya noble families were. And because of the wise insight of their parents, they all had such high positions in the world today. They had bet on the Pureblood Kuran Line and had won the bet. But despite all that, Ruka was thoroughly enmeshed with Kaname Kuran.

She remembered the first time she met the young pureblood male.

Kaname Kuran was breathtaking even back then.

And when Kaname had drunk from her the first time, her heart had been fully taken by him.

She greatly admired him for so many reasons. He was smart. He always knew what to do. He always had a plan. He seemed so _mature_ beyond his years. He was powerful. He was wealthy. Ruka had dreamed that one day she would have been Kaname's blushing bride.

Her youthful possessiveness of Kaname seemed so _silly_ to her now. Her possessiveness made her envious and hot-tempered. However, it _also_ made her self-doubting and vulnerable. She had made a fool of herself many times in front of him, and looking back on herself then, she wondered how Kaname had put up with her, sometimes. She wouldn't have put-up with such a haughty and over jealous person. (After all, one bitch doesn't like another one!)

However, how could she be so _possessive_ when he _wasn't_ hers to _begin_ with?

She once thought that she truly _loved_ Kaname Kuran. She had thought the she and he were meant to be. Therefore, she had been so _envious_ of Yuki.

_So bitterly envious._

When she first met Yuki, Ruka instantly thought - how dare that little human wrench get the love of such a powerful pureblood? How dare she? And even when Yuki was revealed to be a pureblood vampire, while Ruka's _mind_ could logically accept it, her _heart_ still hadn't.

Yuki the human, Yuki the pureblood – it was all the same to Ruka because Kaname loved Yuki no matter what. Yet, Ruka wanted to give Kaname everything. Her first love had been so intense, pure, and uncontrollable, and if _Yuki_ was what he wanted, then he should _have_ her.

Even if Ruka was terribly jealous of it.

And Ruka was an envious witch for a _very_ long while.

However, despite her burning enviousness, Yuki somehow became her dear friend - formed after many, many hardships. During her many etiquette lessons with Yuki, she had gotten to know the young woman not as a 'rival', but as a _friend_.

And it was during one of her 'tests' that she saw for herself, for the first time, that Yuki and Kaname were _meant_ for each other.

Kaname looked at Yuki like he didn't look at her. Kaname cared for Yuki like he didn't care for her. Kaname touched Yuki like he didn't touch her. Kaname drank from Yuki like he didn't drink for her.

Yuki was Kaname's very _air_. The _reason_ why he _lived_.

Thus, she gave up on him. That realization brutally crushed her, but at least she was matured because of it. When Ruka gave up her unrequited and painfully pure first love, her personality had become more..._gentle_, and less..._proud_. And, somehow, she silently wished for the two purebloods to get on with their relationship and be _forever_ happy.

However, that all change one day.

It changed when she saw Yuki's cry _over_ the ex-human.

By night, Ruka felt like such a stupid _idiot_ when she saw it.

Yuki might have been _Kaname's air_.

But Kiryu had been _**Yuki's sun.**_

Yuki truly loved Kiryu. Not _Kaname_, but _Zero Kiryu_.

She truly _loved_ him, and Ruka _knew_ the silver-haired man _loved_ her equally back. (Well, didn't everybody?)

And with that new knowledge, Ruka did a _bunch_ of stupid things.

Really stupid things.

Really, very big stupid things.

Stupid things like, once, when Kaname and Zero had been viciously fighting, Ruka had blocked an attack from Kaname that was aimed at Zero's heart and thus saved him. Heck! She was so confused by her actions, and so was _everyone else_ when they had learned of it! Kaname had looked at her like he had never _seen_ her before, and even the silver-haired ex-human hunter had asked her _why_!

Ruka had never answered _him_ or anyone else for that matter, but she knew why she did it.

She had seen how Yuki was with Kiryu.

She had seen the different, and, for once in her mean-spirited life, she wanted to encourage someone (and who better than a friend) towards a _brighter_ path.

While Kaname and Yuki went _well_ with each other, Kiryu and Yuki _blended_ with each other.

The different was obvious. It was as _obvious_ as night and day.

When one saw Kaname and Yuki interact, one could see that they _complemented_ each other quite well – just like how Akatsuki and herself complemented each other – but when one looked at Zero and Yuki, they weren't just complements.

They were _**harmony**_.

Seeing that degree of extreme love, Ruka deeply _knew_ that what _she_ had felt for Kaname had been quite inferior, _and_ what Kaname and Yuki had – and at one point, they _did_ have something great - could not really be _compared_.

Ruka hadn't been surprised when Yuki chose Zero. Nope. Not by a long shot. She _was_ a _woman_, after all.

However, when Yuki had chosen Zero and _not_ Kaname – Ruka had still been conflicted.

And Ruka hated that. She despised that. She was _always_ conflicted. Ruka may act like the epitome of a privilege icy witch, but she wasn't a fool, and she did have a beating, if always confused, heart.

On the other hand, when Ruka had protected Zero from Kaname's attack that one time (For Yuki's sake), she had felt _their_ bond be terribly severed. For some reason, Kaname had given her a small look of deep betrayal, and that look was something that Ruka never forgot.

_Never. _

Even though she had given up on him, Ruka still wanted to _please_ him and see him _happy_.

Yet, when one looks back on all that has happened, a very big part of Ruka was quite _content_ that her youthful wish of being Kaname's one and only had _**not**_ been granted.

Watching Yuki's life with Kaname by the sidelines had made Ruka quite thankful indeed that she _dodged_ that _**bullet**_.

_Still_, Ruka felt so terrible for the pureblood man and woman.

Kaname was..._too_ _much_.

Far too much for someone like _Yuki_ to really handle.

But, by darkness, Ruka _didn't_ know what she could do about it!

_Was_ there anything she could do?

_Was there anything __**anyone**__ could do? _

Ruka didn't think so, and that made her gloomy for the future.

Unexpectedly, the two convoluted royal purebloods she had been thinking about entered the small conference room like a miniature thunderstorm.

Before, Ruka's very eyes, her King, King Kaname Kuran, and her Queen, Queen Yuki Kuran, walked to their respected honor seats, and quickly sat beside each other in front of the shocked seven inner circle members.

There was no fuss, no fight, or no bitter _conflict_ between them.

However, they were unified by _**terrible wrath.**_

The only good thing about it was that at _least_ it wasn't directed at _them_ or each other. Miracles really do happen.

"I will get _straight_ to the point." King Kaname Kuran furiously started as his dark eyes quickly took them all in. "Our children – Juri and Haruka – have been _**kidnapped**_." Everyone in the room – except the pureblood couple - gasped in indignation. Yet, Kaname heedlessly continued. "And before this is _over_, we will paint a _masterpiece_ with the blood of the fools who _dared_ do it."

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** I have not written in Ruka's POV in ages! Goodness, it took a while for me to sort her out! Ha ha! Also, I threw in a very small clue in this chapter about how Zero 'finally broke!' Didn't any of you catch it? XD I hope not because I won't be saying much more on that! ;3 However, _that_ big reveal will be coming _soon_ _enough_ during this kidnapping arc! (My, my, what a big tomato I just saw? 0_0') Nevertheless, it isn't what you might initially _think_ it is, my lovely readers! ;D I'm pretty tricky in my plots. However , I _have_ hidden loads of foreshadowing clues for all sorts of things all the time in quite a number of my 'boring' chapters. XD So, don't get too sad if you don't see the path yet! It will come soon enough, so just enjoy the ride! :D

Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long – _I love them all_! XD


	72. Chapter 71 Bargain

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**Thousands of Years Ago**

He was not yet thirteen summers, but his people now considered him a man.

During his rite of passage on the last full moon, he cast off his childish name and took on the name whom he would forever be remembered as. However, while he was proud of this new accomplishment, the meaning of his new name was somewhat _strange_ to the young man. While he respected his most honorable father for giving him this new name, he wasn't completely understanding or comfortable it.

He is now _**Kaname**_.

And this odd name meant _the vital point_.

Why did his most honorable father give him such a _strange_ name? He would have much preferred a _stronger_ sounding name. A name that would vibrate with pride or honor or strength or respect and this new name of his – _Kaname_ - did not seem to express what he wanted for himself very well.

What was it to be this thing called a 'vital point'? What was his most honorable father's intention?

Nevertheless, because of his new name, he had entered into the realm of manhood, and thus he had been given _more_ responsibilities. His most honorable father had told him that a boy could only become a man once he understood his duty, and thus the newly named _Kaname_ was given important new duties despite not understanding what this new name of his meant.

Still, he was given a _great_ responsibility, and Kaname was quite proud of it. Typically, his new responsibility should _not_ have been given to him due to his _relative_ youth, but the fact that his most honorable father trusted him with _this_ responsibility made him feel quite pleased of himself. No other male of his age could claim that he had such an important duty, and Kaname felt _very_ satisfied with that thought.

His new duty was the protection of his family's cattle during the darkness hours_, _and that was what he was _currently_ _doing_ - despite this night's cold air and heavily blowing winter winds. The coldness of the night wasn't really much of a _bother_ to him..._**strangely**_. Actually, few things that bothered the common villagers never seemed to bothered him. Coldness and disease were rare for him to feel. Thus, his most honorable father was _wise_ in his decision in giving him this new task.

Cattle was a great sign of wealthy in his village and only _his_ family had such large numbers of them. Kaname was in command of watching over such valuable treasure, and he was quite pleased at the arrangement. However, the young Kaname also knew his most honorable father did this because of the villager's whispering. And those whisperings were not of _praise_ either. However, Kaname was pleased to learn that with this new duty of his, it stopped the rude wagging tongues of the gossiping villagers.

Kaname frowned to himself as he remembered some of their cruel words.

"_Our chief's first male boy is so lazy!" _

"_Why does he sleep all throughout the daylight?"_

"_The boy must be a weakling. Why else would the __**light**__ harm him?"_

The young Kaname heavily sighed. It wasn't that he was _willingly_ lazy during the day, but that he was simply more tired in the daylight. Tired, _tired_, **tired**. He felt sluggish and slow, and the sun felt so hot and terrible on his pale skin. He would sweat like a cow, and his eyes would burn after too many hours in the sun. There were many times that he had thought he had gone blind only to have his sight return to him after the new night was over.

Kaname paused in his thinking.

_The Night. _

The _Night_ him was completely different to the _Day_ him.

At nighttime, he was full of energy. He was stronger – far _stronger_ than someone his age could be – and faster – far _faster_ than someone his age should be. He was able to think more quickly and solve problems _better_ than anyone else his age or older. His vision was without equal, and his most honorable mother would often remark that he had the gift of an eagle's eye during times of darkness. He could perfectly see when others could not, and if given a task – any task - to complete, especially if it was to be completed before the night was over, he, and he _alone_, would be able to finish it. Tasks that would take a _group_ of men _days_ to finish, he was able to complete in hours – _if_ given at night. That was the swindle - the trick, the trap - for his great abilities. From small to great tasks – _if_ a task was given to him _at night,_ he would achieve it better than if given to him during the day.

He was the perfect son – the perfect man - _**during the night**_.

His most honorable mother seriously remarked that he was probably a moon's child and thus an enemy of the _sun_ and _her_ children. That was why the daylight hurt him so. His most honorable father would tell her to _hush her lips_ and not speak such terrible things. Yet, Kaname never forgot his mother's words.

_**He**_ could be a _child_ of the _moon_? And children of the moon were enemies to the children of the sun?

_Why? _

His most honorable mother always lovingly called him _her_ moon child, but his most honorable father would grow very, _very_ angry every time he heard her say such a thing.

No child of his was a friend to darkness, he would say.

Kaname sighed again.

That was probably one of the reasons why his most honorable father gave him this new duty for the night. He was his best during the night. He was the best watcher, the best protector, and the best warrior his father had to guard his family's more precious treasure. Father was getting old in years, and his siblings were far too young for this duty. It had been his father who constantly protected their cattle at night, so now this responsibility was passed to him as the chief's first son. Therefore, as he watched over the ten sleeping cattle tonight, Kaname was quite happy with these new changes in his life.

Since he had become a man and received this new duty, it stopped many of the waggling villager's tongues that always commented on their chief's first child's strangeness. Now, he had an excuse for sleeping in the daylight without reprove. Now, the villagers believed he was like this because of his father's previous secret training and future planning insight. Now, he was greatly respected, if not greatly liked.

However, there were _other_ aspects to his strangeness that didn't get overlooked and what probably caused his lack of close villager friends.

Kaname only had _three_ true friends who were not of his family - and two weren't even people!

As the young Kaname watched his sleeping cattle, his first true friend, Wolf-kun, rested his large black head on the side of his right lap, while Bat-chan echoed lightly over his head in the trees. Wolf-kun and Bat-chan were his only companion friends. The only friends he could ever really trust with all his little secrets and small woes.

He met Wolf-kun first. Wolf-kun was trying to steal a hen from his family's henhouse because that was all an abandoned wolf pup could get on his own. His mother had been killed by the villagers and poor Wolf-kun was all alone in the world. Still, even though Wolf-kun was just a pup, the villagers still treated him poorly and, in anger, Wolf-kun snarled and tried to fight them. Wolf-kun managed to get one of the young children's arms in his jaw during his desperation struggle, but, luckily, this event happened at night. Kaname was able to save the young villager child by _wrestling_ with the scared Wolf-kun.

He won the fight with the large wolf pup. It wasn't very hard.

However, when Wolf-kun submitted to him after their mild fight, the young wolf pup was expecting his quick death, but Kaname decided to keep him as a favored pet-friend. And it was the best decision he ever made.

Wolf-kun was the _first_ true friend he _ever_ had.

The villagers, though, didn't like the fact the he could get along so easily with wild animals. His most honorable father was unnerved as well, but at least his most honorable mother told him it was one of his _special_ gifts as a moon child.

So Kaname was unconcerned.

A few months later, he found and saved the injured Bat-chan. She was injured due to a hunter's arrow, and Kaname decided to take care of her when he found her during one of his playtime periods. He fully expected Bat-chan to leave him once she was healed, but amazingly, Bat-chan decided to stay with him and help him with his various tasks.

Wolf-kun and Bat-chan were his first true friends. However, that didn't mean that they _liked_ **each other. **Wolf-kun disliked Bat-chan's constant echoing, and Bat-chan didn't like Wolf-kun's 'ground-smell.' Kaname smiled slightly to himself. Friends are difficult to have.

Still, was it not strange that Kaname's friends were first _animals_ rather than _people_?

Many thought so.

That was why when the villagers praised him for his 'act of courage' against Wolf-kun, too soon after the event, they started to call him an _oni's child._

_**Oni's child.**_

Why?

Because no normal person should wrestle a wild wolf and _live_ to tell the tale. Only _Oni's children_ could do that.

His most honorable parents had been _enraged_ when they heard that _newest_ rumor. His most honorable father got so angry at the rumors that he forbade anyone from speaking of that event.

Nevertheless, despite his strangeness, Kaname had made a brand-new friend recently. A new friend who was a _person_. Yes, Yes – strange indeed. The person was older than him, by how many summers, Kaname wasn't sure. He seemed relatively young, like what he will be in the next five summers, but he acted more like a teacher to him then a peer. Something that Kaname wasn't too happy about, but wasn't very annoyed by.

Kaname had met this new friend of his when he was doing his usually lone night walks around his family's land. He felt a dark presence near his family, and he and Wolf-kun recklessly confronted the supposed new enemy. The person had been quite surprise that Kaname could _see_ him because there was _no moon_ that night. Somehow, after this confrontation, this person became a regular secret visitor to him, and Kaname had been quite happy at this. Why? Well, while it was nice that his two animal friends were good listeners, it was very nice to hear a verbally spoken answer back, now and again. Even though his new friend's answers to his questions were always strange.

Nevertheless, his new friend and him had _one_ strange thing in common.

He, like Kaname, had unique abilities, and, like Kaname, his abilities only came to him _at night_.

_**He was a fellow moon's child like him! **_

In fact, his new friend was coming towards him right now!

Kaname heard shaking of the tree leaves and the snapping of twigs behind him. Yet, unconcerned, Kaname waited for his newest friend to appear before him. Though quite strange, the man had never sought to hurt him in anyway.

Soon, Kaname saw a tall and lackey man with long dirty black hair that reached to his feet. He was covered in cow hide and wolf-skin (which made Wolf-kun not like him very much!). He smelled like dark earth and cold waters. However, the most unique feature of this person was his eyes. Kaname had _never_ known of a person with eyes like him before.

His eyes were a deep crimson hue. Like the color of fresh blood.

And the person in the woods also had a strange name _like him._

He called himself '_**Monster'**_.

Kaname did not know why, but for some reason, it didn't _bother_ him..._much_.

His red eyes gleamed. "Out here late again, and so far from your home, child?" Monster quietly asked.

Kaname sighed. "I am no _child_ any _longer_." He looked at his newest friend boastfully. "I have a _new_ name."

"Oh?" Monster's lips curled in a small smile. "What is this new name of yours?"

"_Kaname_." He answered.

Monster's red eyes flashed strangely, but then he frowned. "What a _curious_ new name." He wondered aloud as his eyes become slightly glazed. "Anyway, _youth_..." Monster's lips twisted at his obvious irate glare. "Have you considered my last questions for you?"

Kaname sighed. "I have."

"So do you have answers to them?"

Monster always left him riddles to puzzle over whenever he left, but this time, his new question riddles were quite odd - even for him.

"No." Kaname answered.

Monster frowned. "You are a bad pupil." He remarked.

Kaname rolled his eyes. "I can't answer questions that doesn't make sense." He growled.

"Oh?" There was dark amusement in Monster's tone.

Kaname repeated the two odd questions Monster gave him to ponder. "What is my game? And in my game what do I bargain with?" Kaname heavily sighed. "I am _not_ a child anymore. Therefore, I don't _play_ games. However, I am not yet a full man who has things to trade, so how can I bargain?" Kaname patted Wolf-kun's head for a brief moment. "Your questions don't make sense to me."

Monster shook his head. "Do you think only children play games?" He chuckled. "Adults play numerous games as well."

Impossible! Adults don't _play!_

Kaname frowned at his newest friend. "I have never seen an adult play children games."

"Why would an adult play _children_ _games_ when there are many _adult_ _games_ they can play with?" Monster smirked.

Kaname blinked. He was so surprised! He thought once he became an adult he would have to give up games, but there are adult ones? His most honorable parents never told him this! "What are adult games?" Kaname hurriedly asked.

Monster chuckled again and was about to answer when, _suddenly_, the heavy winds changed directions, and Wolf-kun jumped up and lowly howled - his cold black nose violently twitching.

After a few seconds, Kaname smelt it too.

_Smoke. _

**Dark smoke. **

..._Coming_... from the direction...of..._his_ _village_...

Without thinking and without another word to Monster, Kaname jumped up and raced back towards his home.

Due to his unnatural speed, he reached the valley of his village in minutes.

_And_...the _**village**_...

_The village_...was _completely_...**gone**...

There were only ashes.

No huts. No animals. No villagers.

**No family. **

_Only ashes._

**Everything was gone! **

Gone.

_Gone! _

_**GONE! **_

Without a single _warning_ notice!

Kaname fell upon his knees in shocked horror, and started to scream.

He screamed and _screamed_ and _**screamed...**_until he could not _scream_ any more.

Yet before he fell into a dark sleep, he felt Monster grab him and hold him tight - whispering strange words in his ringing ears.

Words that had no pity for his sudden strange twist of fate.

"You have just seen the results of an adult game, youth." Monster said quietly. "What game will you now play? What will you _bargain_ with in _your_ _games_?"

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-One: Bargain **

* * *

**Present **

In the first floor seating area of the King's Red Building of The Imperial, the countless crowds of nervous and frightened vampires died down.

Numerous low-level vampires were quickly repairing all the broken windows and mirrors, and the murderous power vibrations of the Royal Couple was no longer an issue. The majority of the vampires present in the two main hotel buildings were deeply conflicted about their staying in such a dangerous place, but like well-trained dogs, most decided to stay put. (None of them really wanted to risk offending the Royals if they left, even if they thought the Royals wouldn't have really cared if they did). Very soon, the crowd hoped to hear what their king and queen had to say about the frightening incident and so nearly all of them retired to their rooms and turned their televisions on to VNN to get the special report.

In the meantime, Joon Ho Song felt conflicted over a completely different matter than everyone else.

The old father musingly looked at his only lovingly nefarious and strangely nervous son.

His son was desperate to accomplish this grand goal, and Joon Ho felt...somewhat sadden for himself.

While he had lived for a few hundred years, he had not really accomplishment much with his life.

The Song Pureblood Family was the oldest pureblood vampire clan in Korea. However, even with _that_ prestigious lineage, he had not accomplished anything..._worthwhile_...and for that he was _deeply_ ashamed. He was a mere child when the last Far Eastern King was murdered by his realm's royal court, and he was a young man when the Far Eastern Council took his place and ruled.

Yet, in less than a _century_, King Kaname Kuran, who was so _young_ when compared to him, had accomplished _so much_ in such a short amount of time. It was like the man had been here _before,_ and his ambitions and power were unheard of for someone of his brief life-length.

Yet because of that, Joon Ho Song felt like the world's worst man.

He had lived many times longer than King Kuran, and he had _nothing_ to show for it.

He remembered the man's parents - the Elder Haruka and the Elder Juri (And strangely, the Royal Couple's twin children were a lot like them).

Elder Haruka was a mild-tempered, quiet, kind, and patient man, while his wife and sister was a high-spirited, outspoken, and cutely mischievous woman. They were all around the same ages, but they were so gentle and peace-loving that one could hardly believe that through _them,_ they had given birth so such a powerful **and** **cruel** ruler-son. He and his precious wife, Hye Jin, always loved to visit them when they could. They were so different to others of their kind who always desired things best left not gotten. The previous Kuran couple had no love for power or courtly rules or wars.

Joon Ho had liked them very much.

It was so strange that their children turned out so differently – especially their oldest child. Joon Ho never thought that their first child would have mercilessly destroyed the Far Eastern Council and recreate the strong monarchy that his parents never wished to exist again. One would think that children would _follow_ after their parents.

Yet, Joon Ho shouldn't be one to talk about _that_.

As King and Queen Kuran were so different to their parents, his son, Goog Song, was so different to him.

What was it about youth who craved respect, and with such respect, _power_ so much?

While he and his wife were peers with the first Kuran couple, they did not have a child until after the older Kuran couple's second girl child returned to being a pureblood.

His little Goog was a great surprise to them. They had _never_ wanted children, because they _knew_ what would follow if they had them.

_Wars for power. _

_Power for wars._

His fellow Korean purebloods always wished to once again be an independent nation, and because his family line was the oldest and purest of them, they wanted him to be their ruler.

Joon Ho had _no_ desire to be being a ruler. _No desire at all._

He didn't like power games. He didn't like fighting. He didn't like plots and schemes and tears.

But... his son, _his precious son_, was _**not**_ like him.

Goog liked the power games. Goog liked to fight. Good liked the plots and schemes and tears.

And that made Joon Ho quite sad.

Even when he was just a toddler, Goog declared that he wanted to be a _king_ someday. He heard their group of purebloods during their typical gatherings speak of King Kuran with _great_ fear but _also_ deep respect, and he wished that for _himself_. Goog was ambitious, even so small, but when Goog found out he that could _not_ be a king (because his family was not a royal house) the boy had become deeply resentful towards him and his mother, and always viewed his father with a slight bit of disgust in his eyes.

"_Why is it that you never amounted to anything father?"_ A young Goog once snapped angrily at him. _"Why must I been a subject? Why can't I rule?"_

Joon Ho had never answered his son's mean questions.

Joon Ho had believed that no matter how much his son did not see it that his son was not cut out to be a ruler. Like father like son. Joon Ho never amounted to much, and so neither would his son. That was how it was. How it will forever be. His son was still his son, after all. And it was _his_ blood that ran through his veins. The child just _refused_ to see it.

Therefore, it was _most_ _**unfortunate**_ that his child – behind his and his mother's back - decided to _join_ this rebel alliance. It was completely unexpected and he never thought his boy could do something so _foolish_, but once Goog was deeply involved with these rebels, there was _no_ turning back.

Could a father betray his child?

Perhaps, but not him.

No, not _ever_ him.

Joon Ho and Hye Jin had debated endlessly with themselves on what to do with that crisis, and, at first, they only followed after their son and joined the rebels because of the potential blackmail this would cause them. However, once he saw for the very first time in his life that he could actually _accomplish_ something _grand_...he felt himself _change_ a bit.

Perhaps..._perhaps_ **he** could be _great_? Perhaps _he_ could also **rule**? Perhaps _**he**_ could finally hold power and be the one to actually _bargain_ with men's lives and not have _his_ life be _bargained over_?

Well, this was the chance of a lifetime. Something that only came _once_ in one's life.

And if he took it...perhaps his son could _finally_ be proud of him and not so resentful?

_Perhaps? _

Joon Ho knew what would happen if everything went as planned. The good and the bad. However, at least, during all of this, his son and him had gotten so much closer - so much more _caring_ to each other - and he _didn't_ want to give this new relationship with him up.

Therefore, Joon Ho Song would make sure that he would be _successful_ in this plot of Sosono's, and become the _**ruler**_ everyone else wished him to be.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

Traffic was horrendous.

As her black eyes took in all the inhabitants of her ground-traveling small black car and her outside surroundings, Rebel Lady Sosono gently tapped her silk fan against her pale pink lips in _sheer_ _frustration_.

By darkness, if they kept this up, it would take them at least _ten_ more hours to reach Wadaura Port. Hundreds upon hundreds of auto vehicles were jammed onto the seven lane highway and in the past hour they only moved _five_ miles.

This was _not_ good.

Sosono's ground car vehicle currently had four people occupying it. Min Chan Kim was in the driver's seat, and she was in the front passenger's seat beside him. In the backseats was the mild Hye Jin Song, who was steadily healing the heavily injured but unconscious Japanese Pureblood Prince, Haruka Kuran, and the king's sleeping silver-haired hidden male lover (who, apparently, was _also_ the princess's fiancé!).

In a separate ground car behind them were the rebel brothers, Soo Bin and Im Dae Han, her mistress, the icy Wan Hoo Kim, and the unconscious Japanese Pureblood Princess, Juri Kuran.

Nevertheless, her group of rebels were missing three key players. Two of which Sosono was..._willing to sacrifice..._if it came down to it.

That's the nature of her game, after all.

The Royal Korean Governor, Byung Gi Kim, Pureblood Lord Joon Ho Song, and his son, Goog Song, were left behind so that they could enact the last distraction plan. A plan that will help buy the Korean rebels the desperately needed time they needed to get out of Japan with their bargaining pieces.

Sosono was planning to exchange the Japanese Pureblood Prince for her kingdom's independence, and she would force the Pureblood Princess to marry and mate with one of her fellow rebel males in order to prevent King Kuran from vetoing their deal. However, she had no idea of what she could use the king's hidden lover for.

Still, the Prince Heir was the only son of King Kuran, thus, _currently_, the boy was the _most_ valuable pawn she had. More _important_ than the other two. No kingdom can survive without a heir and vampire kingdoms were no exceptions. King Kuran _needed_ his son, and thus he would have to do everything and anything she said to get him back!

They just needed to get to international waters and their secret base. If they managed that – everything else would be so _easy_!

This act will greatly _damage_ that vile King Kuran's reputation _and_ his power. Sosono would be quite _amused_ if her plot truly worked. If she was able to establish her kingdom's independence, it would only be a matter of time before the other two territory kingdoms of the Far Eastern Realm followed her and her rebel forces.

Sosono smirked. By night's blood! Whatever would poor King Kuran _do_ if all his territories decided to rebel against him at the _same_ time? Sosono couldn't wait until that moment! Surely, it would decrease his global power, and perhaps even..._dispose_ him? After all, it's not like the territory kingdoms were very pleased at the arrangement (except, perhaps, for those crummy and weak Mongolians). Perhaps if they all saw how 'easy' to was for her kingdom to get its freedom, then the two other kingdoms would follow suit more easily? After all, wars have been started over less, and all the territory kingdoms needed to go to war with their ruler...was just some _little_ encouragement.

Still, the main distraction plan that those missing three were responsible of was something that was risky in and of itself.

Those three would be telling the Royal Couple that it was their fellow still-living Japanese pureblood vampires with the help of the Mongolian vampires that had done this evil act against them.

In all honesty, Sosono _knew_, deep in her heart, _that_ plot of hers was highly doomed to utter failure.

If she was King Kuran (and for some strange reason, _this_ Kuran somehow reminded her of the _first_ one so long ago), she would _not_ buy such a story so soon. After all, those two groups would be the _least_ likely to oppose him for obvious reasons. The Mongolians had it so good under him (relatively speaking), but the few remaining Japanese Purebloods were _near_ extinction. However, that was the only plan every rebel could agree on and Sosono had to allow it. Nevertheless, just in case that fragile plan didn't work, she had _another_ back-up plan for blame that would, at the very least, buy them the time they needed.

She just got a call from Byung Gi that informed her that there had been a major conflict between the Royal Couple that resulted in one of the main buildings of the Imperial's Hotel losing nearly all of its glass windows. At first, Sosono had been very happy that those two were fighting each other, but then her logical mind kicked in, and she was utterly flabbergasted that the couple found out about their children's capture so quickly. That could only be the most logical explanation for the conflict.

That surprise made her realize that she would have to use _Plan B._

Yes, _Plan B_ would be implemented instead of Plan A. Before all this, she had secretly informed Byung Gi on what to do, in the event that they needed _more_ time to escape, and she had already informed him on what he needed to do and say in case 'Plan A' wasn't the right path for their true objection. Blaming the pureblood Japanese and Mongolians wouldn't cut it – they needed a more likely and logical scapegoat. A scapegoat close to home...and that was what Sosono intended to give them.

Byung Gi had not liked it but what could _he_ say? He wanted to save his - and his family's - neck more than others in the end. Self-protection and all that.

Still, Sosono pressed her silk fan tightly against her lips.

So...what was Plan B?

Well, to put it simply, Plan B was..._sacrifice_.

Using her open small car mirror, she saw the gentle Hye Jin carefully heal and mend the greatly injured royal prince.

How ironic that she wouldn't be there to mend her son or husband or _both_ when they would desperately need her abilities soon.

Sosono felt no guilt.

This was the game of power. One must be able to bargain with sacrifices in power games.

Nevertheless, by darkness, this traffic would be the _death_ of their plans if it continued like this! So Sosono _really_ needed to make sure she had a _Plan C_ (and _D_ and _E_) for herself if this grand plot of hers failed.

After all, before power, _her_ true game was _self-preservation._

**To be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** So ends another chapter! *_* Cruel backstabbing always seems to occur in this dark fic of mine! But poor little Kaname! 0_0 His past will be very hard for me to write (I can already tell). However, I won't be revealing all of it at one or at the same time. I'll just be revealing the most important bits and pieces of his past every now and again to 'explain' him and highlight future events for this dark story. (Yet, this first major change in his first life was really a defining one for him and will shape the next two chapters events in an...odd way! 0_0')

Also, some of those to-be-shown past life events of Kaname really shaped who he is right now and why he does the things I does. (And what _is_ he some of you may ask? Well, some of you guys have said that he is 98.97% Pure Evil Bastard! XD That may be so, but there are _other_ ways to look at him! X3) Anyway, this Kaname of mine will be _many_ different things in this tale! Love him or hate him – he does make this story very fun to write! XD

Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! _**Short or Long – I love them all! ;D**_


	73. Chapter 72 Game

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot**

* * *

**109 Years Ago **

In sheer incredulity, a teenage Kaname Kuran quickly blinked and expressionlessly stared at the small and _extremely_ _**antagonistic**_ silver-haired child before him.

_**If looks could kill...**_

By darkness, who in the world was _this_ little person?

It was past midnight and the full moon softly glowed. Winter would soon give way to spring, so the night air was favored with the warm scent of first-spring flowers. Due to this change in seasons, Kaname decided that tonight would be a good time to visit his sister-descendent because he had not seen her since the new year began.

Five years ago, Kaname brought his young sister-descendent to Kaien Cross (an ex-vampire hunter friend of his mother, Juri Kuran) to be taken care of since she was no longer a pureblood vampire. As a result of his mother-descendant's sacrifice, all of his sister-descendant's memories of her time as a vampire was completely gone, and now, for all intents and purposes, she was nothing more than a simple human child who had no memory of who she really was.

Kaname was conflicted.

On one hand, Kaname wanted to keep her and raise her himself. However, the fact was obvious that he didn't really know how to take care of a human child. Thus, he sought out Cross's guidance on what he should do about this important difficulty.

Surprisingly, Kaien became a great blessing to him.

Without saying much, the passive man effortlessly opened up his home and heart to the young Yuki - almost to the point that he considered himself her true father and caregiver. Kaname was very relieved for getting this surprising chance. He knew he could trust Kaien to take good care of her, and he would be able to visit her from time to time without arousing unneeded suspicion. There was also the added benefit that he could now focus on his various goals and problems without the trouble of worrying about Yuki's physical care.

Nevertheless, Kaname made it a habit to visit his sister-descendent every season and Cross was kind enough to give him a key to enter his home. (Mostly, to give him a valid explanation, of how he got in if ever the now-turned curiously human, Yuki _Cross_, ever asked.)

Tonight, Kaname simply wanted to have a quick visit with his sister-descendent (just to see how she was faring really). Therefore, he had not expected such a _rude_ greeting from such an unexpected source.

The child's (well, he could consider every person on this planet a 'child', but the person before him looked around eleven or twelve at the most) eyes burned brightly in the full moonlight. Even at such a young age, Kaname was amazed at the level of cold hatred that was in this child's gaze. The killing intent was clear and a small kitchen knife was pointed at him, particularly in the direction of Kaname's heart.

What kind of game was this child playing?

Kaname's first instinct was to _destroy_ this unexpected enemy, but, fortunately, his cold reason clashed against it. As a result, Kaname warred a minor battle within himself, as the two shouldn't-be-awake-at-this-time-really males continued to stare killing daggers at each other in Cross's small living room.

Pre-teen vampire hunter-in-training, Zero Kiryu, had a dark feeling that his life had taken another dark twisty turn for the worst.

_**Again**_.

Zero felt like his simple life had broken apart – and there was nothing he could do about it.

It was not even a month since his precious family was massacred by the villainous pureblood Hio. His father, his mother, and his brother was forever lost to him, and he was forcibly changed into a night-beast.

However, after his hunter instructor, Toga Yagari, sealed away the new beast inside him, the one-eyed man brought him to this new place to live. Unfortunately, Zero was now under the care of the most annoying man he had ever met in his entire life! The very moment they met, the man _dared_ to ask him to call him 'Papa' and Zero nearly saw _red_ when he heard it! That man may have once been called "The Vampire without Fangs," but _Zero_ **only** had **one** _father_ – Kyo Kiryu – and _**no one**_ could ever dare to replace him in his heart!

But that _stupid_ man wasn't the only person who the young Zero now had to live with!

That other person was called _**Yuki Cross.**_

Zero didn't know what to think about her, _really_.

For one thing, she was strangely..._**creepy...**_and he found her to be a bit _annoying_.

Well, creepy and annoying _to him_. To put it simply, Yuki was creepy, annoying, and confusing to Zero.

Creepy, annoying, confusing...and somewhat... okay.

Those four words where the only words Zero could really describe the new feelings he had for that new strange girl in his broken life.

Other people may find her cheerful or upbeat attitude...nice. However, such a personality was creepy (and very annoying) to someone like the young Zero. Perhaps it was because it was extremely oppositional to his silent and brooding personality, or perhaps it was because his life was a mess, so he wanted everyone else's life in the world to be a mess as well. Whatever these weird new emotions were, Zero didn't like it. It didn't like these feelings, and so he decided to lock them far away and hide them deep in his heart.

But now, Zero was feeling another set of strange emotions, and these emotions Zero remembered all too well.

Panic. _Alarm. __**Horror**_.

Dread. _**Terror**__. Anxiety._

**FEAR and HATE. **

By the Sword of Blood! His supposed new legal 'guardian' was _nowhere_ to be found. His roommate Yuki was peacefully sleeping in her bedroom. And Zero _**was facing another soulless pureblood monster alone.**_

Fear engulfed him. It felt like a large poisonous snake had wrapped itself around his throat and sank its large fangs into his heart. As this new monster enemy stared silently at Zero, terror seemed to make every sound, every movement, and every flicker of dark emotions within him triggered horrifying memories of what happened to his beloved family.

_His beloved family..._

Zero knew he was going to die tonight. He just _knew_ it.

_**Flash! **_

_...Fresh bright blood... _

_...Broken furniture... _

_...Lightless eyes..._

"_Mom!" Zero cried. "Dad!" _

_...Her painful __**bite**__ on his neck..._

_Why was he still alive? Zero cried. Why was he __**still alive?**_

_Zero wanted to sleep forever! Zero wanted his family! Zero wanted to die!_

_Why was he alive? What was his purpose? _

_Zero wanted to die. _

_Die. Die. __**DIE!**_

_What did he have to live for anyway? _

Zero stared at a new blood-sucking beast, and his fear overwhelmed. For a moment, in Zero's fearful mind, he saw a future image of this vampire monster doing the _same_ thing to his new family.

But a sudden new emotion instantly wiped away Zero's stunning fear.

"_Vampires hunters are protectors."_ The words of Toga Yagari flashed into his mind. "_We are the noble sheep-dogs that protect the sheep from the wolves. When we __**live**__ another day, we will __**protect**__ another day. "_

Zero suddenly realized his new purpose in life and his fear of this dark creature of the night before him melted away.

Zero got to live _**that**_ day because he was to protect for _**another**_.

_**To protect.**_

While his new..._roommate_...was creepy, annoying, and odd, and that Cross guy was a clueless old fool - Zero _**didn't**_ want them to end up like his late family.

_**NO!**_ Zero's mind screamed. _**NOT**__ THIS __**TIME**__!_

Zero would _**never**_ allow another night monster to _harm_ people he knew ever again!

In his make-shift bedroom (which was once Cross's apartment living room area) Zero awoken from his light slumber when he sensed the approach of an unknown pureblood monster to his new home.

The intense fear that engulfed him quickly disappeared in a moment and now what fueled Zero was a bitter vengeful rage.

So, Zero quickly grabbed his best weapon (a lowly meat craving kitchen knife) and confronted the monster at the front door of his new home head on.

Zero knew that there was no way a small guy like him (even if he was a hunter-in-training) could win against an obvious pureblood male vampire. He logically knew that. Zero just didn't have the advance skills nor did he have the weapons nor did he have a game plan. So, even though Zero knew – he _knew_ with a dark certainty - that he was going to _die_ tonight because of this final stand - he did it anyway.

_**To protect. **_

Zero grabbed onto his dying resolve to protect close to his heart.

It was the only _thing_ he had.

And that would have to be enough.

Meanwhile, in Kaname's warring inner self, once again, Kaname was deeply conflicted about this new situation.

Currently, inside his soul, an ancient being that was a deep part of him commanded that he immediately stopped playing this useless game and murder the weak fool before him so that he could finally see his heart – his descendent, little Yuki. However, the modern being – the person that was supposed to be a part of _this_ time – **battled** against the ruthless commands of his ancient self. The modern self knew that this child – despite the _fear_ and the _**rage**_ – was trying to _**protect**_ something.

The child was trying to protect something with a _dying _resolve.

And, for some strange reason, the modern self _knew_ that this odd silver-haired child was trying to protect his sleeping sister.

The _**modern**_ being was amazed. _**He**_ could not harm someone like that.

Yet, the _ancient_ being inside him darkly raged. _He_ wanted to see their sister-descendent tonight, and _he_ would do so without any interference.

So, Kaname's internal battle of his two selves was merciless as he tried to decide on what to do with this newest..._problem_.

The Kaname Kuran the world knew was a well-polished and soon-to-be greatly feared and powerful person. However, in actuality, he was a _split_ being. Or rather, two persons in one - two distinctly different minds in _one_ small body.

A descendent and an ancestor. A predecessor and a successor. A forebear and a heir.

Kaname Kuran I and Kaname Kuran II – an ancient person and a modern soul all in one.

The dark-eyed pureblood teen was quite the oddity.

Currently, the modern him, the one who was currently in control the most, knew that the time of his reign would end soon. Once, long ago, his uncle stole him from his parents and used his blood as a sacrifice to awaken the sleeping ancestor. However, in an act of sheer cunning but _strange_ kindness, the ancestor devoured his uncle's blood and used the energy he attained to allow the modern him to survive. While his physical body was completely destroyed, his soul and mind were preserved inside the ancestor's body. The ancient one took him into himself and had given him total control of 'their' body once he defeated his uncle and informed his parents of what had happened.

When his parents found out what their older sibling had done to their first child, they terribly wept. They thought their son was completely gone. _Completely gone. _But when the ancestor him had informed them of what he had done, and they were... deeply _bewildered_. Nevertheless, the ancestor him changed his body back to resemble his lost infant form, and he locked himself secretly away from his modern self's mind for ages. The modern Kaname grew and developed like a normal pureblood child without any memories of what had actually happened to him until he came of age.

So, on the one hand, their son was still alive and well. And for _that_, his parents was deeply joyous and happy to their ancestor. But, on the other hand, Elder Haruka and Elder Juri were hurtfully perplexed because their son _wasn't_ really _**his own**_.

The ancestor him gave them one bitter warning. He told them that he would allow the modern him to grow up normally in this new world of theirs as their true son's soul used his body. However, in the event that this modern self _awakened_ him again (i.e. his modern self required the use of his powers and knowledge), he wouldn't be able to stop himself from consuming the essence of their child _completely_ and taking his place _entirely_.

It was a cold fact of the Nightfall World they could not reject.

As the moon shines because it devours the luminosity of the sun, so shall the creatures of the night _live_ by devouring the pure energy of the day. Vampires were greedy consumers of light and life. Therefore, if awaken again, his ancient's natural inner beast would end up consuming the modern self without another thought.

If their son ever used his ancient's self's power and knowledge – it would be the death of their son's spirit/modern self.

With that final warning, the ancient self went back to asleep, and the modern Kaname grew up very normally.

For a long time, his life was relatively good.

_**But**_...like all good things...it didn't _last_.

After his sister was born and his parents were killed, the modern self foolishly awakened the ancient him/self.

Kaname II had done so because he wanted _**revenge**_ against his evil uncle for not only killing his dear parents but also because he threatened to harm his new little sister – the only person in the world who was like him. Kaname II's protective rage _consumed_ him. His uncle dared to threaten to harm her, but Kaname II wasn't going to allow that.

But for him to _protect_ his sister Yuki and for him to have his revenge for his parents...

...Kaname II _needed_ **power**.

_**Power. **_

And if nothing else, _**power**_ was something the ancient him/self had in _abundance_.

Yet to get that power, he sacrificed his 'life' and future.

Kaname II – the modern self – felt _so_ **foolish** for his reckless decision.

Currently, the modern self and the awaken ancient self were _warring_ against each other. It was an intense internal battle that the modern self knew that one day he would _lose_, but he _still_ fought on. He fought because he did not _like_ his ancient self, and he knew that if that person had his way, he would destroy everything he valued. _Everything!_ He knew he would!

His ancient self – with all his power, all his abilities, all his knowledge, and all his _**memories**_ – was a very _shattered_ individual. He was a desperately _fragile_ soul - an individual who lost so much that he could _not take_ another loss again and _survive_ **intact**.

He was a broken person.

He was an evil _**monster**_ of a man.

His ancient self was both **beast** and **person**. A thing that was _noble_ yet _abased_. A deeply _loving_ but cruelly _hurtful_ **man**. A person who could **protect** _and_ **destroy** so easily that both actions were _**one and the same to him. **_

_This_ was why the modern self continued to fight even though he knew he would lose in the end. The modern self could feel such a terrible _darkness_ in his ancient self. A great and dreadful darkness that was only kept at _bay_ by the barest of threads.

His ancient self's darkness – _**their**_ **darkness** – would bring _ruin_ to the world if it was let out. And his modern self had awakened his ancient darkness in _one_ stupid and childish moment.

By night, how much time did he really have? _Truly?_

His ancient self was visiting him more and more within these passing years. It was why he stayed away from all those who knew him. He stayed away because he knew that when he lost this battle of wills – destruction for all those surrounding him would soon follow. However, despite his dark uncertain future, an unseen _light_ was preventing his darkness from overwhelming him.

That _light_ was his little sister, Yuki Kuran, who was now Yuki Cross.

His ancient self reacted very _strangely_ to the knowledge of his sister's existence. It was strange because the modern self didn't know what it meant for their continuous internal battle.

The ancient him possessively latched on to his sister like a dehydrated man would cling on to his last ounce of water. _Finally_...finally after all these dark, painful, lonely, and _long_ times...his ancient self _finally_ had something that was truly _**his**_. Something that could _sustain_ him. Something that was a gentle light in his intense darkness. Someone he could come _home_ to.

**Someone** that _was_ **his home**.

And now, instead of always bitterly warring against his losing modern self, his ancient self wanted to..._merge..._ with him instead.

**Merge**.

The suggestion was so tempting. So very tempting, indeed.

Yet, Kaname II wasn't sure if that was the _right_ thing to do at this moment. He could see the benefits if they did actually merge, _**but**_...

_But_ Kaname II didn't trust Kaname I enough for that to happen. He still didn't trust him to want to really merge their souls with him.

_**Yet. **_

Still, that was neither here nor there at this moment, because at the moment, he was dealing with a rather unexpected..._thing_.

Using his senses, he knew that his Yuki was in a deep sleep upstairs of Cross's two-bedroom home. Mindlessly, he opened the front door with his key to check in on her, but he was met with the most incredible of things.

A young silver-haired..._guardian?_

Kaname, both modern and ancient, was completely taken aback.

In the child's hand was a small steak knife pointed directly at Kaname's beating heart. The boy's small body was tense, but he positioned himself with a discipline that only appeared in well-practiced fighters and vampire hunters. However, it was the child's eyes that _ruffled_ Kaname the _**most**_.

_Yes_, _**his eyes.**_

The child's eyes was something that Kaname _really_ _liked_ but _**didn't like**_ at the same time. The boy's eyes were an extremely beautiful and exotic color that he had never seen before and Kaname, for a long moment, felt utterly trapped by them. The child's pure lavender orbs burned into his dark-brown irises with such furious protectiveness shaded with strong hatred that Kaname was overwhelmed.

This _child_ looked ready to _**slay**_ him.

And Kaname couldn't look away...

With the resolve of a fearless protector, the young Zero Kiryu barked, "Go back to where you came from, monster!" He darkly said. "There is _no_ prey for you _here_." His small pale hand gripped his kitchen knife tightly, but he steadied himself.

Kaname narrowed his dark-brown eyes. The feeling of surprise soon left him. With his mind spinning, he thought about what was actually happening and who he was dealing with.

An intense silent descended on the two males as they both took in one another.

_Ah, yes._ Kaname's brain turned on. _So, this was the young hunter child that Cross was speaking about days ago?_ The child that was attacked by the female Hio pureblood?

Kaname's eyes narrowed even further. Was it really okay for his little sister-descendent to be associated with the likes of this reckless fool? His smooth lips pressed themselves tightly together as he considered the young person before him.

_Really?_

Even if Kaname _was_ going to hurt anyone here, why did this foolish human child think he could actually _stop_ him? Was he some type of fool? Kaname heavily sighed. Killing the child wouldn't do him well with his various relationships.

Nevertheless, while his ancient self told him to just _erase_ the minor problem, the modern him decided to scare the boy away. After all, his main purpose _here_ was to see his sister-descendent and...and if the modern's instincts were _correct_...the child seemed like he was trying to protect his sister-descendent from what he saw was a terrible threat to her life.

Kaname – the modern self - didn't have it in him to hurt such a..._good_ person.

Slowly judging the child, Kaname started. "You are the young Zero Kiryu, aren't you?" He asked slowly, hoping that the surprise that he knew of him would distract the child enough for him to stop this foolish play of his.

To his utter surprise, the boy didn't even _flinch_.

If anything, his eyes _flashed_ and became _darker_.

The eleven-year old Zero Kiryu glared at the pureblood male vampire before him. He knew him, eh? Was this new pureblood sent to finish the job? Was he here to 'finish' what that other evil pureblood witch started? Not on his watch!

"Get out of here, you damn leech!" He tightened his grip on his make-shift weapon even further – his hand becoming bloodless. "You will not **harm** anyone _here_!"

It wasn't even a month since his family was massacred by that monstrous blood-drinking woman, and he had to deal with _another_ pureblood monster. His new 'guardian' (supposedly a world-renowned vampire hunter – ha!) wasn't even her when Zero needed him the most! By sword's oath, how was he going to protect that annoying brown-haired girl all by himself against such an enemy?

One look at him and Zero knew he was screwed. This guy was powerful. Extremely powerful, maybe even more so than the witch who murdered his family. By the sword of blood! What in the world could Zero possibly do to defeat him? Was there anything he could do? Was there anything he could _say_?

For another tense moment, the two males glared at each other.

Kaname marveled. There were _many_ things he could do to this his reckless young idiot, but he didn't think Cross would like the majority of them. He sighed again and utterly ignored his pureblood inner beast that demanded that he destroy an enemy of his immediately. That would not be in his best interest now.

Perhaps he'll have to try some diplomacy?

Kaname looked directly into the child's eyes and said, "Do you really think you could stop me if I truly wanted to do something terrible to you, young Kiryu." Kaname heavily said. "Do you think I want to play this child's game with you?"

Zero still didn't move an inch. "This isn't a game." He held himself firmly. "And _you_ still have done as I asked, vampire." He said with more courage than he actually felt.

Somehow irritated, Kaname growled. "I don't need to do anything that you ask, boy." The sheer nerve! How dare such a creature _disrespect_ him! "I'm here to see Yuki."

Something perplexing flashed in Kiryu's pure lavender eyes. Kaname was once again shocked speechless! If his look at Kamane _before_ was terrible, this _**new**_ look could scare a demon straight!

_This vampire was here to harm that annoying girl?_ Zero realized. _No!_ _He wouldn't allow this!_ Even though he had just met that strange person, Zero wouldn't allow her to fall prey to this evil beast! While he may still be a hunter-in-training, he wasn't going to allow this pureblood monster to harm another innocent human again!

"You damn monster!" The young Kiryu growled. "Take any step towards her, and I'll rip you apart."

_**Monster? **_

Something inside Kaname _viciously snapped._

Monster?

_Monster? _

_**MONSTER? **_

_**Flash! **__"You are just like me, Kaname." Monster hissed with bloody lips. "Kaname the Man. Kaname the King. Kaname the Monster. It is all the same because our games will always end in the same way." _

The triggered memory of a far-distant past viciously took a hold of him. "If I'm actually a **monster**, child..." Kaname dangerously whispered as he moved dangerously closer to this vile fool. "What makes you think **you** can _stop_ this '_monster'_ from getting to her?" Kaname lightly hissed. His finger itched, and his dark-brown eyes flashed a warning red.

The young Zero hotly glared back. "I'll stop you, if it's the last thing I do!" Zero vehemently promised.

Kaname was utterly flabbergasted. Such resistance! _Such defiance!_ **Such opposition!**

It was one thing that Kaname – both new and old, monster and person – _**utterly hated.**_

Who dared to _challenge_ him? Who dared prevent him from getting what he _needed_ or _**wanted**_?

Kaname coldly glared at him. "You are just some pathetic and weak human brat that, if I wanted to, and I really want to, I could crush in an instant!" His lips twisted. "I will see Yuki, _now_." He commanded. "_So, move aside_."

And in one word, the young silver-haired hunter-in-training cemented a dark conflict that would last as long as they both knew each other.

Standing against him, Zero Kiryu said. "_**NO**_!"

Once again, Kaname was stunned.

How.._dare_...

How dare..._**this thing**_...

**How dare this thing **_**fight **__**against**_** him!**

"_Little human_..." Kaname said slowly, thickly, and darkly, "What makes _you_ think that you can _**stop**_ **me** from getting what I want?"

Another intense silent descended between the two fighting males.

Zero felt the terrible tension. He felt it deep within his very bones, and while the pureblood vampire was expressionless, Zero could almost see the beast actually consider ripping him apart in his mind. By the sword, Zero felt a wave of dark hatred aimed solely at him that radiating off this dark and powerful man. His young heart raced. He was going to die! _He was going to die!_

_Little human, what makes you think that you can stop me from getting what I want?_ Zero repeated the old question in his frighten mind.

Yet, unexpectedly, a curious answer immediately formed in Zero's mind and effortlessly poured out of his lips. He didn't know where he got the answer from, but it felt like it came from some deep part of him.

And these next words of Zero would always be remembered by _one_ of them ...

_Forever_.

"_You _are a _monster,_ and... _**I**_ am a _**human being**_." Zero Kiryu said with an eternal resolve that sounded like an old passion but dreadful new power all in one. "However, in all of life's stories and in all of life's games, we, humans, _always_ _**vanquish**_ you, monsters."

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-Two: Game **

* * *

**Present**

In order to succeed in media, one had to know how to create key images. Images that could make or break a story. Images that would forever stay in a person's mind the very first moment that they saw it. Images that in one second could speak a million words.

Images were far more powerful than words alone, and thus they were good tools when one tried to make a critical point.

Senri Shiki was good at remembering and creating those types of images for his Media Company.

However, some of the most important images don't always have to be public. And those images were so powerful that they had to remain private. If not, the world could burn if they dared to witness it.

As Senri quietly looked at his dear queenly cousin, he was greatly disturbed at what he saw in her.

It was like one hundred years did not even _happen._

There was a cold _deadness_ in Yuki's dark-brown irises. There was no brightness or glean or sparkle in her gaze. It was like looking into the dead gaze of a soulless but moving human zombie, and a small shiver of despair went down Senri's spine.

Senri remembered what Yuki looked like after she had awoken from her long coma nearly one hundred years ago. That coma was caused because of the twin shocks of learning her Kiryu's final fate in that bloody cave _and_ the terrible miscarriage of their unknown baby.

Yuki looked..._cold_.

_Frozen_.

Extremely cold and _old_ and..._**dead**_ inside.

And once that disturbing look froze on her face – Yuki went _**crazy**_.

Completely _batshit_ _**crazy**_ – for **five** years.

By darkness, what in the world was going to happen now?

"Senri!" King Kaname Kuran barked. "Pay attention! I need you and Ruka to inform all the inhabitants in this place that the Queen and I are in private talks." Surprised at being spoken to directly by his dirt bag cousin, Senri rapidly blinked his blue eyes at him. He also saw a slight twitch of annoyance at him shoot across his male cousin's handsome face.

_You dirty bastard._ Senri thought. _Yuki is about to go crazy, and you're annoyed at me?_ However, Senri wasn't one to break his long-established character he used when dealing with this evil asshole. "Yes, my King." Senri had never referred to this asshole as family – as part of his blood – and he never will. "I will do as you command." He lightly said.

Something told Kaname that his only male cousin was angry with him, but, at the moment, he really didn't give one damn. His blue-eyed cousin, for as long as he could remember, was always angry and distant with him, and Kaname could never _use_ him properly.

Kaname had no idea why his relationship with his only male cousin was so sub-par to his first expectations. Once, long ago, he had wanted the man to be his right-hand man, but even as a young boy the man strangely kept his distant from him. Oh, well. Kaname has more important things to deal with right now.

"We cannot allow the kidnapping of my children to become public knowledge." Kaname told his inner circle. "This will unbalance my realm and give our _other_ enemies something to use against us." He looked at his inner circle darkly. "We need to keep this crisis as quiet as possible."

Suddenly, a cold feminine voice rang out throughout the small room. "No sign of our children in a radius of three miles." Yuki called out in a low monotone voice. "I will now check for them in the radius of five miles."

Yuki was currently using her hundreds of raven familiars to find some lead to their children's whereabouts. Ravens wouldn't be too odd to the city's inhabitants if spotted (Like how, Kaname's thousands of bat familiars would surely disturb all humans and vampires in this city if they had been assigned this task), and thus she was using her bird familiars' numerous pairs of eyes do a sweeping aerial search.

But it wasn't going too well.

Yuki's heart felt so frozen that she could hardly feel or hear anything around her. Her bones and muscles felt like blocks of cement. She and Kaname were once again working together.

**Working Together. **

She was working together with the man who –

_Don't think it, Yuki!_ A sole lone voice of reason screamed at her. _Don't think of it, now!_

Yuki's heart became even colder.

But..._**Yuki would find her children if it was the last thing she **__**ever**__** did.**_

Kaname nodded his head to her. "If not five, then continue with a search of ten, twenty, and so on." He said. "They can't be too far. They were just taken." He urged her.

Kaname was slightly enraged that he could not help her with this task. Surely, with his thousands of bat familiars, he could make her aerial search easier. However, he could not alert the vampires of his realm about this new personal crisis of his.

He could not because he – they - had far too many enemies that would use this to their advantage.

By night, terrible problems _never_ seemed to come **_one_ **at a time for him!

First, those blasted Koreans murder 200 humans, then his foolish wife declared to the world that she wants a stupid divorce from him, and now his two children were kidnapped!

How did all of this started?

_Silver smiled gently at him. "I wish you well in this important endeavor."_

By darkness, that was another problem wasn't it?

_Silver..._

Kaname couldn't be 100% sure why he knew this, but he had a feeling that his precious Silver was also kidnapped by whoever kidnapped his children. It made the most logical sense when he put all the clues together.

Three people that he cared for the most were viciously ripped from him in an instant.

Kaname felt like his heart was bleeding.

Haruka, his son, the heir to all his power and future...

Juri, his daughter, the only person who trusted him without any doubts...

Silver, his perfect companion, his ideal lover, the person who accepted him with all his terrible, terrible faults like no one else ever had...

Darkness forbid if anything - if anyone - **dared** to harm any of them.

**Kaname would never forgive.**

He would drive out and wipe out everything that opposed him in such an unspeakable way. Whoever did this was going to _**suffer**_. Not only them, but also their children, their parents, and even their dogs if necessary.

Kaname would make sure their entire _line_ was **extinguished** from the face of this earth.

Still, it was ironically strange to him. He was so _powerful_, but that power was a great disadvantage in this modern world. In this age, Kaname's sheer physical strength was too overwhelming to be very useful in a time were subtle manipulation was king.

Oh, the irony.

"Should we call in our basic reserves, King Kuran?" Akatsuki asked. "Perhaps those extra hands will assist us better in this crisis?"

"No." Kaname answered. "Too much attention. I prefer that the least amount of people who know this, the better." Kaname pressed his lips tightly together. "Summon our special forces: The Shadow. They are much better suited for this task." He commanded.

"Yes, my King." Akatsuki bowed.

However, Akatsuki's fellow army leader decided it was her time to now speak. Honestly, while every day Seiren was losing more and more respect for her world leader, she still had a job to do and her friend Yuki really couldn't lose her two children.

They were _all_ Yuki had. _All_ she had to fight for. _**All Yuki could live for!**_

And, like Senri, Seiren _didn't_ want Yuki to fall back into that crazy beast woman she once was so long ago!

Yet, as Seiren carefully observed her queenly friend...by darkness, that would happen if they didn't find those kids?

"Perhaps we should shut down all air travel and transport, your highness?" The blank-face Seiren asked. "Hover vehicles can cover far more ground than transport ground vehicles. If these traitors to the Far Eastern crown are using them, your children can be taken to any place in Japan within hours."

"Shut it down then." Kaname snapped. "Also shut down all international travel spots and travel ports."

Now it was Takuma Ichijo turn to gasp out loud. "But Kaname-sama! The Japanese human government will not care for such a thing! It will cost them _billions_, **and** they are not too please with this concentration of vampires in the capital city already! They might even think we are planning a slaughter!" Takuma said. "You know how humans get when they feel threaten!"

But when Kaname darkly glared at him, Takuma's tongue became a dead thing. "There is no cost I cannot pay back." He said. "My family is worth anything and everything." He waved off his concern. "This will be solved _before_ they lose too much anyway." Kaname hissed.

"I see, Kaname-sama." Takuma back peddled. "So, do I have your permission to shut down any and all transport and travel ports _and_ give the human leaders their just compensation to do so?"

"Yes." Kaname said angrily, but then he pointed his dark stare at Hanabusa Aido.

Hanabusa blinked and felt like crying for himself!

_Why the dark stare?_

And **why** _at him?_

It wasn't like Hanabusa did anything!

...Except... maybe... him _learning_ about the _incredible_ fact that Kaname-sama was now playing _bedroom baseball_ with a male _Doll_...and not just _any_ Doll at that! But Kaname-sama was playing bedroom baseball with _the_ Number One Doll of All Times, _the_ Silver Night, _himself_!

What the flying red monkey balls?

How in the world was Hanabusa going to tell Yuki-chan that her husband was sleeping with another person who was 1) a man 2) a spell-bond sex-slave and 3) the reason why so many powerful and courtly noble vampire clans of the Far Eastern Realm had been destroyed in the past century?

_Really?_ Was it up to Hanabusa to really tell Yuki all that? By night, Hanabusa wished Lady Luck wasn't such a mercilessly bitch!

Kaname's dark eyes soften a bit as he stared at Hanabusa, but not by much. "Please inform Queen Bimnono that we cannot continue with the divorce trial at this time."

And...there you go. Another problem Hanabusa wasn't sure to deal with!

The divorce trial. _Kaname's secret sex-slave_. **African Pureblood Queen Bimnono.**

_Wonderful_. Didn't Hanabusa's life make just _so_ much sense?

Still, as Hanabusa blinked his green eyes at Kaname, he shot a quick look at Yuki, hoping to figure out where she stood on all of this.

Surprisingly, the Queen nodded her head in sharp approval. "Nothing in the radius of five miles." Yuki emotionlessly told them all.

Kaname nearly sucked in his teeth at Hanabusa's stare for Yuki's 'permission', but he tried to ignore the mild disrespect. "_Also_, tell the North American Ambassador Watanabe that I must meet with him at another time. Tell neither of the two the _real_ reasons why."

And why not just thrown in the damn hydra dragon herself for Hanabusa to deal with! Because _clearly_, Hanabusa didn't have _enough_ problems!

"Yes, Kaname-sama." Hanabusa lightly answered. All color gone from his face when he saw Kaname's darker than usual look at him.

Thus, the Emergency Far Eastern Inner Circle Council meeting continued on.

This new game was being set. All the players were put into their places. And time was of the essence.

But only one question remained – who would win in the end?

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** Longest... Chapter... to Date! XD Ha ha! But whoa! I logged in and saw all the new changes in the website and I thought it was my desktop going crazy or something! How about you guys? Like the changes? ;D Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or love – I love them all!


	74. Chapter 73 Power, Part I

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**101 Years Ago**

It was late in the night.

The Night Class retired hours ago, and the Day Class would soon rise for the new morning, but Zero Kiryu was depressingly awake.

The coldness inside his skin was starting to bother him now, but Zero tried to ignore that terrible feeling. He ignored it, but, depressed, Zero _knew_ he wouldn't be able to ignore this troublesome feeling for very long. So, instead, Zero tried to focus on practicing his new and improved quick-draw technique for his beloved Bloody Rose under the setting pale moon. The action helped him focus on something other than the strange coldness inside him, and so Zero briefly reflected on his strange life as he pretended to aim his gun at his invisible enemies in the trees.

Everything in his life seemed..._normal_.

_**Normal. **_

Nothing about his life seemed out of place..._at all._

_So_, the million-dollar question was...why did _Zero_ feel _strange_ because of it?

Zero was _still_ a high-school student (though he was going to graduate soon). He _still_ had to deal with his stupidly weird legal guardian, Kaien Cross (who _still_ became tear-eyed if Zero mildly glared at him!). He _still_ had to hear his father-like hunter instructor, Toga Yagari, bark and complain about evil blood-suckers in general. He _still_ had to deal with that punk Takamiya. He was _still_ surrounded by annoying prick vampires. _And_ he was _still_ an ex-human vampire that wasn't at risk of becoming a Level E vampire.

So, Zero's life, for all intents and purposes, was normal.

Normal. _Normal_. **Normal**.

_Everything_ in his life seemed _normal_...

_Nothing_ _seemed out of place... _

_Except_...

_**Except**_ for that _**weird new pureblood vampire girl **_with the large dark-brown eyes_**. **_

She was a bit _**creepy**_.

Creepy. _Creepy_. **Creepy**.

In the past few weeks, he would catch her always _starring_ at him. Time and _time_ again. Every time Zero saw her, he felt _strangely_ around her, but in an _uncomfortable_ way, Zero, for some odd-ball reason, didn't _quite_ mind as much as he _should_ have with her being a pureblood vampire girl and all.

She would just..._look_...at him with those _big_ sad eyes of hers whenever she thought he didn't notice, but Zero _always_ noticed. It was like a weird new sense he never really remembered having. Zero would always notice her regardless of what was happening around him, and he caught her staring at him _numerous_ times! She would quickly look away when he caught her red-handed, but soon enough, she would start starring at him again.

Zero had to admit to himself that it was getting really, _really_ creepy.

So, why _didn't_ he mind it?

He spoke to her a few times, but he couldn't say he left much of a _good_ impression, so...why the strange stares?

_**Flash!**_

_"Your thirst will be reduced from now on... because the girl who was causing your starvation... has disappeared from your heart." The strange pureblood teen girl softly said to him. _

_Expressionless (but for some reason, __**also**__ terribly hurt) , Zero coldly looked at her. He saw no reason not to state the obvious! "There is no reason why a vampire __**I do not know**__ would be concerned for my health." The pureblood girl looked like she was just __**slapped**__ and for some strange reason, Zero felt very terrible for his meanness to her. Why...he didn't know. However, he continued on with his emotionless ways even if a small worm of troubling suspicion gnawed at his heart."Disappear from my sight."_

_And the pureblood girl did, but Zero felt like he could still smell her tears hours after the fact._

_**End Flash! **_

While that wasn't the first-time Zero ever met that strange girl, he _vaguely_ knew her. _Vaguely_. Well, he _did_ know _of_ her, but he didn't really '_know'_ her know her. Yet, even _that_ thought of knowing her 'vaguely' triggered an odd response inside his soul. Zero felt like he was missing something. An _important_ something. Something that wasn't really _normal_ to miss, and that had feelings and thoughts behind it best left unsaid..

A wave of coldness tightly gripped his heart and stomach, but Zero tried to ignore it again.

However, this coldness inside Zero was becoming worst with each passing day. It was making him weak. And it was also making his limbs tired and fatigued.

Zero felt horribly ashamed of himself - so _horribly_ did he feel. Because even if he was no longer at risk of becoming a Level E vampire, he was _still_ a bloody vampire. A stupid ex-human! _A Level D!_ This new evil hunger that caused the coldness inside him was due to Zero's terrible unnatural thirst for blood.

_**Blood**_.

Zero was truly _disgusted_ with himself.

He was a _vampire hunter_, damn it! A human being _and_ a vampire hunter but he desired _blood_...just like the night monsters he swore to protect humans from. He was a beast. A damn _beast_ and the only saving grace about this terrible fact was that his hunger for blood wasn't _uncontrollable_. Zero could control and deny his hunger for blood now, even if doing so didn't allow him to operate at 100%.

However, Zero did not desire regular human blood.

He didn't desire human blood..._at all._

What Zero hungered for was..._vampire_ blood. Pureblood vampire blood, if he were to be specific.

Zero's self-disgust reached new low levels for himself. He _deeply_ _**desired**_ to drink pureblood vampire's blood, _but_...

But the _only_ pureblood vampire Zero _ever_ drank from _was_...

_**Was**__..._

_No._ Zero slightly shuddered with the thought. _I cannot possibly desire that bastard's blood. __**I cannot.**_

But a small darkness inside the silver-haired ex-human whispered one disturbing question.

_Are you sure, Zero? _

And, darkness forbid, Zero _wasn't_ totally sure about that.

What in the world was going on?

Nevertheless, he did know _of_ the odd, creepy, but strangely familiar pureblood girl. She was Kaname Kuran's little sister –_ Yuki Kuran._

Kaname Kuran's little sister...

_**Kanane Kuran...**_

Strangely, Zero felt something like..._pity_...for the younger girl. **Wow**. To be stuck with a bastard like that for an older brother...Zero could only shake his head in sympathy. Maybe _that_ was why the girl was _so_ creepy to him? Perhaps it was because she was connected to the person Zero _disliked_ the most?

Because, unlike Yuki Kuran, Zero knew _exactly_ how he felt about the pureblood male vampire called Kaname Kuran.

And it wasn't a good feeling.

Zero gnashed his teeth at the mere _thought_ of the guy.

To put it simply, Zero found Kuran to be the _perfect_ example of a _completely selfish asshole_.

_**Completely. **_

And, because of it...Zero felt like he was living in an old episode of the Twilight Zone.

By the sword of blood! How was it that _everyone_ in this crummy school seemed not to see it? Cross acted like Kuran was the next vampire Gandhi, Yagari darkly admitted that Kuran was 'okay for a pureblood', all the Night Class members worshiped the ground he walked on, and let's not even _start_ on how the Day Class girls acted!

Zero wasn't happy with that - he wasn't happy _at all._

Why are people so _freaking stupid?_ Why couldn't they see what was _obvious_ in front of them?

Even if he was an ex-human _now_, Zero was, first and foremost, a vampire hunter. Vampire hunters protect those who couldn't protect themselves from the monsters of the dark. So, while Zero had _his_ various faults and weaknesses, one thing he could _never_ do was to _willingly_ hurt a weak or innocent person.

But _Kuran_ didn't seem to have a _problem_ with doing that.

_**Not. At. All. **_

He just _did_..._whatever_ he wanted. Without caring of the consequences or how it affected others or how others were hurt by his actions.

People were _always_ hurt whenever Kuran got involved in something. _Always_.

But what made it so _much_ worst was that everyone seemed to just..._accept_ it.

No one rebuked him. _No one dared to criticize._ **No one challenged him.**

They all_ accepted_ his wrongs without a single complaint.

That _**pissed**_ Zero Kiryu off to no ends.

How the hell can the world function when bad people get away with doing bad things, huh? One thing Zero disliked most of all was injustice and needlessly cruelty. People could say he was a jerk, but Zero _knew_ they could never say that he was cruel or unfair. Zero simply liked to keep his distance from the majority of people, and, after everything he has been through, he simply found it extremely difficult to let people in. However, Zero wasn't one to stay quiet when something _wrong_ was occurring in front of him.

And whenever Kaname Kuran was _involved_ with something – _**wrongness**_ wasn't far behind.

And that got him into a lot of trouble with the dark-eyed pureblood.

_Quite a bit of trouble, indeed. _

Suddenly, without the slightest bit of warning, an intense feeling of _**danger**_ erupted inside Zero's heart.

_Well, think of the devil, and he will appear._ Zero grimly thought to himself as he pointed his drawn gun at a dark patch between the trees.

_Danger! Pureblood!_ His instincts screamed. _Very powerful! Run away!_

The _hell_ he was going to _run_.

Zero fought back his screaming fear and face the threat head-on. It would be a _cold_ day in hell when _**Zero Kiryu**_ ever allowed that pureblood jerk to ever think he was _intimidated_ by him. Everyone else could fawn and praise the man if they were too blind to see his true nature, but Zero wasn't one to fool himself with his own illusions.

Kuran may be extremely strong, awfully powerful, incredibly intelligent, and exceptionally elegant...

But Zero always knew a _**monster**_ when he saw one.

And make no mistake about it - Kaname Kuran was a _monster_. A terrible, _terrible_ _**monster**_ of a man.

Moreover, Zero Kiryu felt like it was _his_ personal mission to protect the world from the darkness of this terrible monster.

_**To protect. **_

Zero had the _power_ to _**protect**_. Therefore, it was his _duty_ to do so. Zero would protect the world as a _noble_ vampire hunter - a protector of mankind, a defender of the helpless, and... _an honorable knight. _

_And aren't all evil monsters defeated by honorable knights in the end? _

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-Three: Power, Part I **

* * *

**Present **

"What kind of _freaking_ disrespect is this?" The Vampire King of the North American Realm, King Robert Edwards childishly pouted through the screen of his video cell-phone. "You cause one _little_ damn global depression a century ago, and then everyone treats you like a friggin' leaper or something!" He dramatically sighed. "Whatever happened to respect?"

The North American Realm Ambassador to the Far Eastern Realm, William Watanabe, stared blankly at his rather hot-headed pureblood ruler friend.

Something told the mild Watanabe that Robert wasn't _really_ looking for an answer from him.

King Edwards sighed again. "Have you _at least_ met with Mr. Ramen Noodle yet?"

For a brief moment, Watanabe mindlessly _stared_ at his leader. He wanted to _say_ something, but...he decided to just let that one go. Honestly, he really wasn't in the mood for Edwards's head games right now.

"I'm not sure if that is going to happen any time soon, Robert." Watanabe tiredly said. "After all, I think he and his wife are bitterly feuding right now."

The eruption of dark power from the two angry purebloods early pretty much tipped Watanabe off that there would be _no_ meeting with King Kuran with him any time soon. Not that he was _eager_ to deal with an enraged pureblood vampire king or anything!

However, the green-eyed American Vampire King conspicuously perked up. "Say what now?" His green eyes gleamed with sudden intense interest. "Right now, King Ramen is having a bitter feud with his Queen Noodle, eh?" He scratched his chin. "Aye, the tragedy of it all." His voice drily drawled. "What is ramen without noodles? It is an age-old question."

Ignore. _**Ignore**_.

_Keep Ignoring, William Watanabe!_

Mentally, William damned the green-eyed man because of his insufferable habit in giving people _insulting_ nicknames. Darkness knows that he has been called everything from Son Goku to Mr. Pocky-Head to Lord Sushi-Lover by the American Ruler! Watanabe wanted to roll his eyes but decided against it.

_Just ignore it, Watanabe! Just keep on ignoring it! _

Still, Watanabe didn't really feel like fighting – especially at a time like this! After all, he _did_ have things to do. Important things, indeed.

"What should I do?" He asked his king - longing to end this odd check-up conversation. "Should I just come back?"

"_**Nope**_." King Edwards smirked. "Park your ass there and wait. Keep an eye on both of them." The pureblood ruler's smirk turned malicious. "I want to know which side is most likely to win in the event they fall into a civil war situation." The American Vampire Ruler darkly pronounced. "After all, the only game that matters the most in this world is the game of power." The American King's green eyes darkly flashed. "And power is such a _fun_ game to play."

* * *

**_Meantime..._**

Even though it was _Sosono_ who came up with this last diversion plan, the Korean Royal Governor, Byung Gi Kim, felt like the second Jingwei Wang of Far Eastern Asian history.

"_So_..." Kai Ryunei, the Far Eastern Vampire King's Top Outer Executive Assistant (also known as Lord Butt-kisser by his various enemies), slowly started. He could hardly hide his shock. "_You_ found out who the rebel leaders are that caused that latest human massacre in Korea?"

Governor Kim heavily sighed. He was in the makeshift office of King Kuran that was located on the third floor of the King's Red Building of The Imperial Hotel.

Despite the fact that his heart felt terribly torn, he knew he _had_ to do this. His stupid power-hungry mother and brother would end up being _killed_ if he didn't. And that wasn't all who Byung Gi had to worry about.

He also had a wife and small child back home.

Byung Gi couldn't risk _his_ family.

So, a sacrifice had to be made.

King Kaname Kuran wasn't known to be merciful or forgiving to those that _wronged_ him, much less to those that _harmed_ anything that he saw was _his_. If anything _good_ could be said about the scarily powerful man, it would be this – if you harmed what was his, you were _erased_.

Not just killed. Or murdered. Or slaughtered.

But _erased_.

_Erased from existence. _

Byung Gi was not about to allow his relatively _small_ clan be erased from history. _He was not._ And, really, that was all that mattered at the end.

There was no going back now.

"Yes." Governor Kim said. "The leaders of the rebels are _Pureblood Night Lord Joon Ho Song and Goog Song._" Byung Gi dastardly lied. "He and his son are the ones behind all of these recent attacks against the Far Eastern Royal Throne."

By darkness, Sosono was a truly _rotten_ witch. Only someone so evil could think of something like _this_ as a secondary countermeasure.

No wonder she despised and hated King Kuran so passionately.

People always hated their _own_ kind _the most._

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

An important skill that a powerless spell-bound sex slave must master (if they desired to survive for a long time that is) is the ability to _appear_ to be asleep or unconscious at any given moment _despite_ not really being so.

For Silver Night, it took many, _many_ years of practice to master such a skill.

Keeping his eyes closed, his heart rate calm, and his breathing steady, Silver pretended to be unconscious as he tried to reason out his _new_ **crisis** **situation**.

_Wonderful. _

He had been..._chasing_ after Juri, no?

Did he find her?

_Yes_. Yes, he did.

But she was extremely injured and was being taken away by...a foreign pureblood male...

_So_...

So, Silver tried to _fight_ against the young pureblood...but froze when he was faced with a gun...and then...

_And then..._

_**And then his true self took over.**_

Silver's pretend act of sleep was nearly destroyed at the realization.

His true self had taken over.

_His true self had taken over. _

**His true self had taken over. **

No matter how many times Silver thought about it – he _could not _wrap his mind around it.

Silver darkly reflected. _Since when could his true self manifest himself in this reality? _

SINCE WHEN?

Silver felt like a _fool_.

How was that even _possible_? Silver thought his true self was trapped and unable to come out of his prison! But, apparently, that wasn't the case!

His true self could _manifest_ himself into the _real_ world.

Silver was most disturbed.

_What did this mean? _

Silver could recall _nothing_ of what happened in the real world when his true self took over, so...

Where these change of events... _a good or bad thing?_

When his true self had taken over, Silver had been forced into their inner world that was between reality and dreams. And because of it, Silver was subjected to a hellish punishment. A punishment that made all his previous torture experiences feel like a _child's game_ in comparison.

But that _**terrible torture**_ was something that his true self _**constantly**_ experienced for _nearly one hundred years._

All Silver could ask was...why?

Why? _Why?_ **Why?**

_**Flash**__! _

_"We deserve hell." His true self darkly whispered into Silver's right ear. _

_And then his true self gave him a __**second**__ kiss._

_But __**this**__ kiss was __**wildly**__ different from the first __**gentle**__ one._

_The first kiss had been on Silver's forehead, but this second kiss was __a kiss on the lips._

_And it was __horrific__._

_This kiss was a mystifying vulnerability. It tasted like anguishing pain and a stinging abhorrence of self. It was favored with self-hatred, misery, agony, pain, and suffering. It was like drinking a broken dream, or savoring dying wishes, or eating shredded bright promises._

_This kiss spoke of...__utter__loss__._

_Terrible Loss. __Betraying Loss.__ Monstrous Loss._

_And Silver was helplessly swept away in this horrifying kiss, and he could __not__ escape from it._

_Time seemed to stop and pass - to flow but still remain frozen– as shadow and light clashed against each other in a loss lip dance of pain, hate, and... __crushing consuming guilt__._

_Without warning, the terrible lost kiss soon ended._

_"__**Those feelings..."**__ His true self lightly whispered against his lips. __**"**__**Those**__** feelings are what we **__**deserve**__**, my other half."**_

_An appalling __**hurt**__ ripped into Silver's heart at those broken words, and he snapped opened his gray-purple eyes to argue against them._

_In spite of this, as he looked into the extremely broken amethyst gaze of his true self...Silver could not say a word._

_**End Flash! **_

Silver was _utterly_ overwhelmed.

_**Hell.**_

How could his true self say he –_they_ – deserved _**hell**_?

How?

_And why?_

Yet despite the awful new pain that was in his heart at this new revelation, Silver had finally been able to have a decent conversation with his true self about their pathetic state.

Thus, Silver finally was able to tell his true self his deepest darkest _wish_.

_**Flash! **_

_"I want to know what kindness is. I want to know what real happiness feels like." Silver looked at his true self intrepidly. "I want to know...__love__, true one." Silver's voice broke then. "I want to say __**'I love you'**__ and __**mean**__ it. __**Really**__ mean it. __**But**__..." And here Silver made a dangerous gamble with his reckless words. "But I cannot know them without __**you**__, true one. " Silver sadly asserted. "Can't we simply become complete now? Can't we just find some small type of happiness in this cold dark world __**together**__?"_

_**End Flash!**_

Silver had _pleaded_ with the man to finally become _one_ – to finally be _**complete**_.

But his true self _**refused**_.

His true self _**cruelly**_ _**refused**_... and _mercilessly_ sent him back to the real world.

Silver wanted to _weep_. He wanted to weep for one hundred years! He wanted to fill the world with his bitter tears. This pain in his soul was so overwhelming, and this pain in his heart was too overpowering...

Silver just wanted to end it. Silver wanted to end his life – _now_. **End everything.**

_**However**_...

"_Survive. You must survive." The waxed self child said. "Do nothing but survive." _

That was his true self's only wish for him_. _

Survive.

Survive. _Survive__. __**Survive**__. _

But why should Silver continue to survive if his true self desired to stay in hell?

_Nothing made any sense. __Absolutely, nothing._

Nevertheless, while the thoughts of what his other selves said to him _still_ disturbed Silver greatly, Silver had enough sense to realize that what was happening around him now wasn't the usual.

And what he needed to _focus_ on right now was _the current situation._

But what a problem it was!

By using all his sensitive senses (excluding his sight), Silver could figure out that he was in a moving vehicle that was _full_ of powerful pureblood vampires.

_Four_ pureblood vampires – if he wanted to be exact.

Out of the four of them, Silver could only recognize the scent of one of them, and that was of _Prince Haruka Kuran_.

Silver's mind boggled.

_**Flash!**__ "Take care of yourself. And I'll definitely be better with my punches when I see you next!" Haruka smiled at him as he pressed the button to roll up his limo's window._

Silver should have expected _Princess Juri_ to be with him, but _how in the world did the prince get involved in this? _And judging by the thick scent of his blood – little Haruka was _terribly_ injured. Furthermore, if Silver correctly recalled, Princess Juri was _also_ greatly injured when he finally caught up to her during his original mad chase.

So...where was _she_?

_**Flash!**_ "_Silver Night! Silver the Knight! Silver Night, the Silver-Haired Knight with Lavender Light!" Young Juri cheered._

Silver's heart nearly _torn_ again.

Even _if_ **he wanted to die**...those two precious children were endangered.

Endangered. _Jeopardized_. **Imperiled**.

_**Unprotected... **_

Just like him.

_**Just. Like. Him. **_

Silver was always endangered, jeopardized, imperiled, or unprotected. His entire life was one big crisis after another. Problem after _problem_ after _**problem**_ – Silver Night's world was one of continuous calamity and uninterrupted despair.

Silver had _never_ felt safe or protected his entire existence.

_**Never. **_

Silver Night was _always_ in danger..._except_...

_Except_...

_Except when he was in __**Master Kaname's arms.**_

A vicious pain assaulted Silver then.

_Fool. Fool. Stupid, stupid bloody fool_. Silver thought to himself. _Master Kaname...isn't...going...to...come for me..._

Who would risk their lives for a mere slave? A pet? A Doll.

_No one would._

So, Silver was..._alone..._again.

Silver was once again _all_ **alone** again.

Alone. _Scared_. **And unprotected. **

**But...**

_But_... that didn't _mean_ that those two pure-hearted children had to _remain_ unprotected like him, did it?

Silver may be many things.

A dark dreamer. _A dangerous doll._ _**A destructive destroyer.**_

But, for once in his lonely life, could he _at least _be _**a good defender**__?_

Couldn't he?

He was once a protector...wasn't he? Wasn't that what he _once_ was?

Couldn't Silver protect them?

_Yes. _

_Yes, he could. _

**So, he would.**

And if he _died_ doing this... if his life taken from him because he chose for _once_ in his life not to focus on his own survival but the survival of others...perhaps he could finally have some peace.

Silver made up his mind.

He would _protect_ them. He would _protect_ Princess Juri and Prince Haruka if it was the last thing he ever did.

Silver Night might be a spell-bounded slave, but that didn't mean he was _completely_ powerless.

After all, _**power**_ has _many_ different shades and favors.

And _his_ brand of power was... _**wickedly effective.**_

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** So...maybe I _shouldn't_ write extra-long chapters, eh? XP I didn't get much of a reaction from the last one, so I'll take it that you guys prefer short and sweet and regularly updated? XD

Anyway, to answer a question I got: Tara, I will take your request into consideration, but it will probably take quite a while because I have to really think long and hard about such things (after all, I like being off-the-wall with my story-telling! XD), so your fic idea will be _**long**_ in coming! (That's the same for you ben4kevin and Neela! ;D)

Also, FYI, for anyone else who is curious, if you want to send me plot-bunny ideas for future fan-fics, please feel free to do so! For some strange (and humbling) reason, I've been getting a lot of PM requests for certain story ideas that I really like from some of you guys! So, _after_, Silver Night, I may work on a brand new tale for you guys based on one (or more) of your suggestions! The only exception I have is that I'm not a really big fan of m-preg fics/stories. 0_0' I'm sorry about that, but I just don't get them even though I know their wildly popular 'round these parts! XD Perhaps I'm too much of a lame square? X3 But then, you can also blame my A&P Professor! She taught me too well! :D I've '_attempted'_ a few times, but every time I tried to picture a 'pregnant man'...I got the heebie-jeebies. And a... Noooo! Think–of-the- children -vibe! XD Goodness, I truly am a really big idiot! XD)

Also, I think the next chapter will have some slight _citrus-ish_ action between past Kaname and Zero. (Just to tie ya'll over until the long awaited lemon between them at the end of this arc! For _long_ will we _all_ wait for _that_ to happen! XD)

_**Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long – I love them all! **_


	75. Chapter 74 Power, Part II

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**101 Years Ago**

The past few weeks for Pureblood Vampire Kaname Kuran was strange ones - to say the least. In fact, one could almost say that the past few weeks was _extremely confusing_ to him.

And Kaname wasn't someone who _liked_ being confused.

When his sister-descendent, Yuki Kuran, told him of what she had done to the ex-human Kiryu, for some strange reason, Kaname felt like he had stumbled into a _foreign_ world.

Kaname _**never**_ expected Yuki to do such a thing. _Never_. This newest act of hers caught him completely off guard.

So, the main question in his mind right now is...why?

_**Why did Yuki willingly erase herself from Kiryu's mind? **_

_Why? _

_**And why did Kaname even care?**_

For the past few years, Kaname observed the relationship between the ex-human and his sister-descendent, and even at the beginning of it, Kaname _knew_ that the silver-haired boy _deeply_ cared for her. (It was so obvious that only a _fool_ wouldn't be able to see it.)

In a way, it was very disturbing to him because Kiryu's steadfast devotion aroused many mixed and conflicting emotions within the two-being Kaname. The young Kiryu's level of loyal protectiveness of his sister-descendent was something that Kaname was always..._unsure_ _of_. Unsure of because Kaname had never really seen or experienced such loyal and steadfast dedication before – from anyone really – and to see that such a pure and noble thing actually existed in this cold dark world made Kaname utterly uncomfortable.

As a citizen of the Nightfall World, darkness was something that Kaname relished it. While darkness was not analogous to evilness, often times the lines between the two were blurred or blended. Vampires, as the children of the night, were not ones to feel shame for such terrible truths and realities. Cruelty, pain, blood, and death were basic facts of life, and to deny should facts would be to deny reality.

However, humans were different. Humans were children of the day. While lightness was not the synonym with goodness (after all, true evil was cunning enough to hide its itself in a veil of false light), it did not mean that they were entirely separated from each other. Despite the obvious hypocritical failings their nature, humans always upheld the holy virtues of loyalty, love, honor, and sacrifice – time and time again.

From the beginning, these two races always had their vicious conflicts. Vampires and humans were completely different species – with completely different points-of-view, and worldviews. And whenever those two races tried to merge together – calamity always resulted.

Therefore, humans, as residents of the Daylight World, should remain in the Daylight world. Vampires, as residents of the Nightfall World, should remain in the Nightfall World. The two races should remain forever distinct and separate from each other.

But there was a terrible problem to that solution.

A terrible problem indeed.

Shadows covet the candle. _Shade needed the flame_. **And**** darkness always desires light**.

_"However, in all of life's stories and in all of life's games, we, humans, always_ vanquish_ you, monsters." The small hunter human child dared to challenge him. _

The two-being Kaname initially responded in a myriad of different ways when he was confronted with his first modern example of pure and good light.

Like all threats, Ancestor Kaname wanted to utterly _destroy_ the challenging enemy before him -right on the spot. He didn't care that the enemy was just a child or was probably _scared_ of him. He didn't care about anything at all like _that_.

All he saw was a **threat.**

And whenever Ancestor Kaname was met with a _new threat_ to something that was _his_ – his first response was to destroy anything that would dare to challenge him and get in his way!

Modern Kaname fought tooth and nail to prevent Ancestor Kaname from reaching out toward the hunter child and _squeeze_ the very life out of him. It was by sheer luck that Cross had come home (just in the nick of time) and thus prevented the rebellious human's soon-coming death! With Cross's sudden appearance and Yuki's instant awareness of his presence in her home, the young Zero Kiryu lived to see another day.

Nevertheless, after that first meeting with the boy, while Ancestor Kaname had never been so _livid_ at such a disrespectful exchange, Modern Kaname had his strength renewed to continue his internal fight against his awaken other self. After all, if a little human child could stand against his fearsome other self without flinching...what gave _him_ the excuse to fail?

Still, Modern Kaname had quite a lot to deal with.

His uncertainty of his place in the world. His internal war with his other and more powerful self. His vile uncle-descendant's desire to control and use him. The safety of his sister. His numerous enemies. The pathetic rules and relations of the weak Far Eastern Council.

Modern Kaname had _a lot_ to deal with – _indeed_.

However, one of the few weapons that Modern Kaname had against Ancestor Kaname was the fact that due to his paradoxical existence within him, Ancestor Kaname wasn't totally enslaved to their uncle-descendent, the vile Rido Kuran. This was due to the fact that because Rido freed the Ancestor from his _Tomb of the Forsaken_, due to the Tomb's binding curse, the Ancestor would have ended up being Rido's unwilling bond-servant.

Long ago, Ancestor Kaname willingly locked himself into a _specialized_ Tomb of the Forsaken that was to doom him to an eternal slumber. The reasons for him doing that was still unknown to Modern Kaname. However, even though he was now free from the tomb, the last curse of the Tomb (forced servitude of the newly freed victim to the one who freed them) was still in operation.

Rido Kuran tried to sacrifice Modern Kaname's life in order to gain such a powerful servant for himself. Yet, due to Ancestor Kaname's quick thinking, he found a way to get around the Tomb's last curse by absorbing the Modern Kaname's soul within him and allow Modern Kaname to have full governing control over his body.

At the time, Ancestor Kaname decided that it was far _better_ for him to fall into an unconscious soul-sleep within himself than to be controlled or ruled over by such an inferior fool. Ancestor Kaname had _no_ desire to be engaged in this new world, and so it was _nothing_ to him to become a dormant soul once again.

Modern Kaname grew up normally like any normal pureblood vampire child would, and for a very long time, the only time when Modern Kaname would realize that something was _different_ about him was when he would have terrible nightmares of things he had never seen or couldn't really understand.

_A burning small village..._

_A dying first love..._

_Traitorous nobles..._

_A burning capital city..._

_Being a forgotten and wandering soul..._

_Conflict. Battles. Fighting._

_**Wars**__._

_Blood. Blood. __**More blood**__. And __**still **__**more blood**__..._

_To rule...To gain __**power**__...__**To have everything**__..._

_But with it...__**more**__..._

_Lost. Lost. __**Lost. **_

_Lose. Lose. __**Lose.**_

_Always losing, always lost..._

_And a __**last**__ dead love..._

The dark dreams of Ancestor Kaname's past was the only thing that haunted the young Modern Kaname. Kaname II would try to ignore the terrible dreams and live his life the best way he knew how. In spite of this, after the death of his parents and the threat to his sister's safety, Modern Kaname tapped into his ancient self's sleeping power, and by doing so, he inadvertently _awakened_ Ancestor Kaname.

In the beginning, Ancestor Kaname was utterly _furious_ that he had been awakened, but that all changed when he learned of his _sister's_ existence.

**Why?**

Because it seemed that his sister represented to Ancestor Kaname the _answer_ to all his past unfathomable _**woes**_ and the _balm_ of his bottomless _**hurt**_.

_Another chance. _

His sister represented another chance at _happiness_ for Ancestor Kaname.

Yet, his dark and possessive fixation on her distressed Modern Kaname to no ends.

All Modern Kaname wanted for his sister was for her to be safe and happy. But, Darkness forbid, could Modern Kaname ensure that happiness if one of her enemies was a part of himself?

Well, to make it plain – Modern Kaname couldn't ensure that.

So, he struggled against Ancestor Kaname for complete physical domination of their shared form. They constantly clashed against each other, and their power feud was a daily occurrence. Obviously, Ancestor Kaname was the more powerful of the two souls, but the only thing that really kept Ancestor Kaname in line was the bitter fact that if _he_ were to truly take over completely he would end up being enslaved by their evil uncle-descendent.

And Kaname – Ancient and Current – served _no one_ but _**himself**_.

So, the only way for _them_ to be truly free was for Modern Kaname to dominate and all was relatively well. Ancestor Kaname would only 'act up' whenever his sister was present, or he desperately wished to see her. Subsequently, even if he was unsettled by his other self's fixation on her, Modern Kaname went along to get along, and life was fine for a while.

But like a bowl of hot steaming water carelessly dumped on his face, Kaname – old and new – met the _unexpectedly_ wild, _unpredictably_ ignominious, and _surprisingly_ challenging _**Zero Kiryu.**_

By darkness, what exactly was Kaname supposed to think?

Every since he –_they_ - meet the silver-haired boy a few years ago, Kaname was utterly conflicted on how to really view the silver-haired male.

Time after time again, the silver-haired ex-human was one of the few individuals on this planet that was able to pull out all sorts of various emotions from _both_ Kaname I and Kaname II. These many emotions were so different and varying that they weren't sure how to really _deal_ with him.

Of course, the teen _bitterly_ annoyed _Ancestor Kaname_. Annoyed him so very, _very_ much. Ancestor Kaname was not used to people standing against him _so_..._bluntly_ and _honestly_. Throughout his long lifetime, Ancestor Kaname had made many (many, and a great many more) enemies, but at least the majority of them knew enough not to challenge him _directly_ or _disrespect him to his face!_

But this Zero Kiryu character _constantly_ challenged and _frequently_ disrespected him like it was a hobby or sport to him!

By darkness, that fool was so _**enraging!**_

Many times, Ancestor Kaname's fingers itched to wrap themselves around that pale rebellious throat and mercilessly _**squeeze**_ it. In fact, Kaname couldn't quite remember all the number of times where he had actually _done_ so.

The boy was just so **irritating** _and_ **infuriating** _and_ **exasperating**.

_But..._(And there is always a damn '_but'_)...

_**But**_ despite his many _irksome_ (and tiresome, trying, and wearing) traits, Ancestor Kaname really didn't...'_**dislike'**_...Kiryu all that much.

Well, **not** really _too_ much.

In fact, Ancestor Kaname found this Kiryu character to be... _extremely useful_...in some ways, and... _amusing_, in others.

If nothing else, Ancestor Kaname was deeply impressed with the level of Kiryu's loyalty to his sister-descendent. Such a thing was extremely rare in his world, and he could actually relish such refreshingly new behaviors. Kiryu, for all his faults, was completely loyal, devoted, and _honest_ towards Yuki. Kiryu's feelings towards her were dotingly faithful and warmingly devoted that he _knew_ the silver-haired hunter had no ulterior motives towards her.

Kiryu gave and _gave_ and **gave** to Yuki **without **_expecting anything in return._

Such a concept was mind-boggling to _Ancestor Kaname_. He had _never_ experienced or saw or felt anything _like_ it before.

Zero Kiryu was the first-person Ancestor Kaname _ever_ met that loved, cared, and protected someone _else_ without regards to himself or his personal desires.

Love, honor, loyalty, devotion... _Zero Kiryu_ embodied all of that. Thus, despite Kiryu's rebellious behaviors and rude ways towards him, Kiryu was like a..._**bright light**_ in Ancestor Kaname's dark worldview. Thus, Ancestor Kaname, even if he only admitted it to himself, really _liked_ that.

He liked that very much.

_**No**_**. **

He didn't _just_ like that very much.

Ancestor Kaname _**wanted**_ that very much.

Ancestor Kaname wanted that level of devotion from someone _like_ Zero Kiryu, and he also wanted to..._**own**_ that light.

Yes, instead of destroying, Kaname I wanted _ownership_ of the first person that embodied everything that was light, free, and filled with energy.

He wanted, _wanted_, _**wanted!**_

And Ancestor Kaname _always_ got what he **wanted**.

After all, it wasn't like Kiryu was a _real_ **threat** or anything to him. And the teen was a very useful pawn in all his various plots and schemes (if somewhat very difficult to manipulate). Thus, instead of trying to destroy Kiryu, Ancestor Kaname wanted to focus and invest his time on trying to make Kiryu his prized pawn, his perfect weapon, and his ideal blade.

And to say that Kaname I's 'return on investment' was '_good'_ would be a _terrible_ understatement.

By using his weapon, The Bloody Rose, at its full potential, Zero Kiryu was the one to destroy his vile uncle-descendant, Rido Kuran, the first time around. As a consequence, it was _Kiryu_ who had freed Kaname – new and old – of the possible servitude bonds to that wretched fool.

In a way, Kaname I owned a debt of... _credit_...to the ex-human vampire hunter. That man – with his contradictory existence – allowed miracles to surely happen.

Nevertheless, the Modern Kaname's view of Zero Kiryu was strangely familiar but terribly _different_ than the Ancestor's.

To put it in a simpler way, Modern Kaname was... _slightly __**envious**_.

Like the Ancestor, Modern Kaname immediately recognized Zero Kiryu's value and rarity. He watched the way in which Kiryu effortlessly protected Yuki. Kiryu protected and cared for her without expecting a thing in return. Immediately, Modern Kaname recognized Kiryu's virtue, and it took his breath away.

_Selflessness. _

The ex-human vampire hunter, if nothing else, was the embodiment of pure and true selflessness.

Such bright selflessness was something that Modern Kaname greatly admired and..._coveted_. He too wanted someone who endlessly focused their sole attention on him and him alone like Kiryu did for Yuki. Unlike Ancestor Kaname, Modern Kaname recognized that Kiryu's confrontational attitude towards him –_them_ - was due to his natural suspiciousness of vampires and innate protectiveness towards Yuki. It was obvious in every cutting look, burning glare, and adverse movement of Kiryu's that he didn't trust the pureblood with Yuki – at all.

And, in another strange way, Modern Kaname couldn't help but feel relieved at that. After all, at least someone else, other than himself, could also see the potential danger his other self might be to Yuki. Furthermore, Kiryu declared by his actions that he _only_ wanted Yuki to be happy and safe. And time after time again, Modern Kaname saw Kiryu do what he thought was best for Yuki, even if he hurt himself the most in the end for it.

Ever so slowly, Modern Kaname started to wish that he had the same thing for himself. (And, perhaps, soon he would get such a thing from Yuki.) It was getting extremely difficult to be persistently alone and to constantly fight with another part of himself with no end in sight. Every single time he watched Yuki's and Kiryu's interaction, his enviousness _for_ his sister strangely warped into enviousness _against_ his sister.

Kamane II wanted what his sister had.

So, like Ancestor Kaname, Modern Kaname _also_ **wanted** _Zero Kiryu_.

But he just didn't want him as a prized useful pawn or an ideal weapon or servant.

Kaname II wanted something else _entirely different_. Something in a way that even he was _**afraid**_ to put into words.

On the other hand, after Zero Kiryu unleashed the true power of the Bloody Rose and destroyed his uncle-descendent Rido Kuran for him, the two different Kaname souls made a life-changing and world-alternating decision.

This decision put an end to their long terrible feud and solved all their problems and concerns.

**They merged. **

Instead of fighting each other endlessly, Kaname I the Ancestor and Kaname II the Modern decided to fully _merge_ together and become an entirely new order of being and person.

And _everything_ **changed**.

Currently, the new _Kaname_ that everyone knew and interacted with was the world's greatest mystery and ambiguity. He was the first truly merged mortal person – two persons in one. All the power and memories of the ancestor were blended with the knowledge and understanding of the descendent.

This new person had the power of the ancient, the knowledge of primordial, and the strength of the historic. This new person _also_ had the sharp insight of the modern world, the total comprehension of the contemporary, and the enlightenment of the second chance.

_Second chance. _

By merging, both Kaname I and Kaname II had _more_ to gain. The ancestor had a second chance of creating the life that he desperately wished for. The modern had the second chance of having the life that was cruelly denied him. They were now one and the same being, and the future never looked so bright before.

_This_ Kaname was utterly _unstoppable_ now.

However, because of this merging of two distinct persons, the new Kaname was completely confused on how he should view and relate to the ex-human silver-haired vampire hunter.

If the conflicting emotions Kaname I and Kaname II felt for the man was confusing before, now, Kaname the III was utterly bewildered.

This Kaname still wanted to own Kiryu. This Kaname still wanted to possess his only ball of pure light.

But some of the ways that he wanted him were totally **perplexing** _and_ **clashing** _and_ utterly **unspeakable**.

Was Kiryu just a useful pawn or...could he be something else to him?

On the one hand, Kaname did not really _need_ him anymore. Kiryu fulfilled his part in his various past plots perfectly. So, Kaname _could_ just _dispose_ of him and thus promptly forget about his existence. He no longer required Kiryu's services.

But there were a few problems with that.

And one of the problems came from the most unexpected source.

His sister-descendent, Yuki Kuran.

And even if he wanted to deny it, Kaname _knew_ that his Yuki had formed a strong bond towards this Kiryu character.

Yuki cared for Kiryu.

_**She deeply cared for him.**_

Which greatly enraged Kaname to no ends!

_How dare she!_ Kaname would sometimes silently rage to himself. _How dare Yuki care for someone other than him!_

Yet, because of these conflicting views, Kaname's emotions and thoughts towards Kiryu were in a constant state of confusion - ranging from dark denial to black hatred and possessive suspicion to domineering covetousness.

Kaname wanted to _destroy_ Kiryu because he didn't like the fact that he had a 'rival' for Yuki's affections.

Yuki was his and his only. And Kaname did not like to share what was _his_.

Conversely, Kaname _still_ wanted to keep Kiryu close to him. The wild and rebellious man was one of the _rarest_ types of persons he had ever met and Kaname _**did not**_ want to lose such a precious rarity. And, if Kaname was truly honest with himself (which he wasn't generally), sometimes..._sometimes_... Kaname wondered about Kiryu in ways that were... _**unutterable**_.

Still, Kaname felt like he _owned_ Kiryu already in a way.

After all, the man would not be what he was today without his hidden actions.

By night, Kaname really was a complicated fool.

Thus far, Kaname grudgingly accepted the fact that Yuki and Kiryu were deeply attached to each other because of their shared past and intense closeness. Nevertheless, the only thing that was keeping everything in balance for him was the fact that Kaname _**knew**_ Yuki would eventually choose _him_ _**over**_ the _ex-human hunter_.

_**Kaname knew. **_

Even if Yuki, sometimes, made _disturbing_ comments about the ex-human...

Even if Yuki, sometimes, pay _**too much**_ attention to the ex-human...

Even if Yuki, sometimes, _**cared**_ too much for the ex-human...

Kaname decided that he could tolerate it..._for now_, _**because**_...

Because Yuki would be his in the end.

_**Nothing could stop that.**_

And, in an _ironic_ way, by Yuki erasing the memories of herself in Kiryu's mind, she just _proved_ it. By doing such a thing, didn't she prove that she would ultimately choose Kaname over Kiryu always?

So...why was Kaname so _gleeful_ about this? Why? Why was his feelings towards the silver-haired hunter so _curious_ after learning what Yuki had done?

And _curious_ Kaname most certainly was!

After all, this could mean many different things to Kaname. _And_ it could change their relationship. However, it all depended on Kiryu's answer to his curious question.

Kaname always wondered whether Kiryu's regular confrontational attitude towards him based purely on his devotion to Yuki or purely on him? Some may have wondered why it mattered, but it did matter to him.

If Kiryu hated Kamane because of Yuki...would he hate him still if she was no longer a part of his thoughts?

However, if Kiryu hated Kaname solely on the basis of Kaname alone...what did it mean to Kaname?

The answers to these key questions would be very _**deciding**_.

* * *

**Chapter Seventy–Four: Power, Part II**

* * *

**Present **

Traffic had lessened greatly and they just reached the Wadaura Port.

Rebel Lady Sosono was utterly thrilled.

"Perfect." She purred. "Everything is going so perfectly." She said as she got out the ground car and lightly stretch her small back muscles.

"Indeed." The icy Wan Hoo Kim agreed from a short distant as she too slammed her car door closed. "I thought that the traffic would be the death of your plan." Wan Hoo gently sniffed her nose. "Darkness knows what would have happened if something went amiss, my servant."

The dark beast within Sosono's soul threateningly growled.

_Servant._

In an older time, Sosono would have slaughtered any fool who would have _dared_ say she was a mere servant.

_But a __**servant**__ she was._

The _curse_ of her Tomb of the Forsaken's punishment was _still_ in effect.

Thus, while it took much effort on her part, Sosono forced herself to plant a bright smile on her face that she directed to her...mistress.

"Of course, Mistress Kim." Sosono smiled softly and humbly. "We are most fortunate, indeed." But in her head, Sosono's real words to the woman was: _One day, you simpering female fool, you'll wish that my plans went amiss for you!_

Servant, indeed.

But it wouldn't be for very long.

However, on the opposite side of icy Wan Hoo Kim's ground car were the Han Brothers, and they were a _complete_ mess.

The effeminate peacock, Soo Bin, was mindlessly complaining about his delicate back, and that was why he couldn't carry the sleeping Kuran Princess. She probably weighed as much as a mama cow, and he _couldn't_ hurt his delicate muscles with the sprain.

Sosono could almost see Im Dae slowly try to calm himself down as he mentally counted to ten in his head. However, when he saw that his younger brother was going to prance away to their boat dock, Im Dae darkly gripped his small shoulder to hold him back, and in no uncertain terms, told his younger brother to get the sleeping princess and put her on their yacht – _**now**_.

Ignoring his brother's whining, Im Dae marched over to Sosono's car and took the still-unconscious Kuran Prince from the gentle Hye Jin Song's pale arms. From what Sosono could see, the Kuran Prince was healing relatively well. Of course, the pureblood Wang poison they used on the royal children was still in their systems, so the great healing ability of Hye Jin wasn't at its best. However, at least the children were stable and wouldn't die until they decided the next phase of their plans.

But soon, this kidnapping scheme of Sosono was _nearly_ at its end.

All they had to do was transport their pawns back to their secret home base in Korea. Nevertheless, the Korean rebels couldn't use the quicker air travel methods, so they would have to go by sea. While it would be a three day journey by sea ship, it was the best option that they had to take everyone and their key pawns to safety. Their chartered yacht would take them to their secret home base where they could safely start their other planes against the Far Eastern Tyrant.

But, by darkness, Sosono would be trapped on a boat (well, it was a grand yacht but still!) for _three_ days with all these damn fools! How in the world was she going to make it? Sosono was not a woman who cared for patience or tact!

_And..._Sosono silently pouted for herself. _And she really despised the sea._

Well, at least on the way they would stop by Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island (where Min Chan Kim was the Chief Warden). Sosono would be able to stretch out her feet on dry land during the stop while they refueled their yacht and private attack helicopter for the rest of their journey.

Still, Sosono wasn't really looking forward to this sea trip.

Sosono hated water.

"Ahem." Min Chan gruffly made his presence known to her. Sosono's left eyebrow nearly twitched.

By darkness, like vile mother like vile son.

"What are we to do with this other man, Sosono?" Min Chan roughly asked.

Sosono looked surprised for a moment – unsure of what he meant – but then she suddenly remembered who he was talking about.

The as-yet-still-unknown silver-haired man.

Well, okay.

Sosono had no idea on what to think of him!

Through her lowly pigeon familiars, Sosono had witnessed King Kuran having (hot, steamy, and oh-so terrible, _terrible_ delicious that she _wished_ she could have been a fly on that damn hotel bedroom wall when it happened in _real_ time) sex with this beautiful man.

While it wasn't uncommon for married leaders to have extra-marital affairs, it was somewhat obvious to Sosono that the man wasn't just some new toy for the King to waste his time with. Sosono had been studying her enemy for quite a long time, and she knew he wasn't one to engage in such 'needless' pleasures like most of their kind did.

Vampires were notorious hedonists - and purebloods even _more_ so!

However, usually when a vampire couple engaged in a true-love bond, such acts hardly happened. And wasn't that what King Kuran had with his Queen? Wait! _No_. No, he didn't! Sosono nearly forgot about that! Amazingly, King Kuran and Queen Kuran had a consort-type love bond, and while such bonds weren't as _faithful_ as the true-love bonds, it wasn't completely unheard of for a partner in those to 'step out' sometimes.

_Hmmm._ Sosono thought. _What would happen if I were to reveal to the Queen her husband's affair with this man?_

Oh, wouldn't that be a treat to see?

Still, this otherworldly beautiful man didn't seem quite..._**normal**_ to her.

Actually, something about this man was greatly **abnormal**.

Greatly.

_**Flash!**__"Who are you?" The exquisite silver-haired man growled out. His deep voice nearly made Sosono giddy. This unbelievably handsome man's eyes were the purest of amethysts Sosono had ever seen. Those glorious orbs shone brilliantly like crown jewels, but the sheer __**power**__ behind that firm gaze was intoxicating in its intensity._

Sosono's spine shuddered slightly at the vivid memory.

_**What.**_

_**A.**_

_**Man.**_

If nothing else, Sosono could _never_ say that Kuran had bad taste.

Still, another thought really confused Sosono.

_**Flash!**__ The man's amethyst eyes narrowed. "Are you the one who ordered the attack on my fiancée?"_

Honestly, was it true? Was this man – who was the king's lover – also the fiancée of the princess?

But the man wasn't even a pureblood! So how could it really be true? But then, wasn't Queen Kuran engaged and true-love bonded to an ex-human? So, it _could_ be possible...but the King _killed_ that man..._and_...so...

_**Wow. **_

And one would think _their_ family was crazy! Talk about messed up families!

Yet, Sosono decided to put these odd thoughts of her on the backburner of her mind. After all, she would have plenty of time to think about them _**later**_.

"He's going to be important to us as well." Sosono told Min Chan. "We are taking him too." She commanded.

* * *

Pretending to be unconscious, Silver Night heard words that greatly disturbed him.

"_He's going to be important to us as well."An unfamiliar woman said loudly. "We are taking him too." _

It wasn't hard to guess that the 'he' they were talking about was him.

For the moon's sake! What exactly was Silver supposed to do?

Sadly, Silver didn't have a plan and thus feigning to be deeply unaware was his best tactic for this situation.

Silver continued to pretend to be unconscious as he felt strong hands grab a hold of him, lift him out of the ground car, and hold him against a harsh male chest. A new scent of stone and icy assaulted Silver's nose, but he forced his body to flow with the man's rough movements.

Min Chan Kim was darkly thrilled when he heard Sosono's orders.

_Utterly thrilled. _

Yet, only one word was on Min Chan's mind as he lifted the still-unconscious but oh-so breathtakingly beautiful silver-haired man in his arms.

Only one word...

And that word was_**...Desire**_.

Min Chan darkly desired this man's hot flesh.

From the moment he first touched him and from the second Min Chan felt his moonlight velvety skin upon his wet and sweating fingers – Min Chan _**desired**_ him.

By darkness, what a terrible long wait it has been!

Even while he kept his face expressionless, the icy rebel man's mind blazed with wicked imagination. It had been _so_ long since he deeply desired a person, and thus hundreds of intensely erotic images flashed in Min Chan's corrupt mind as he made his way to their get-away port.

Min Chan pictured the unknown silver-haired man's soft red lips opened and his deep mouth and pink tongue tightly creasing his thrusting hard organ. He could picture him on his hands and knees – begging to be taken by him. He could picture this man underneath him – desperately groaning and moaning for his hot cock – sweating, gasping, and hot.

Min Chan wanted him.

_**And he wanted him now**_**.**

Yet, as he was carried and still pretending to be asleep, Silver nearly broke his illusion when he felt a rough hand hotly caress his outer thigh.

Bleakly, Silver _instantly_ knew what such an act truly meant.

It was far from innocent...that caress.

Silver felt a grave understanding within.

Whoever was holding him..._**wanted him**_.

Wanted him in a way that he'd only been with Master Kaname for the past few months.

Instantly, something inside Silver felt horrible broken.

He...

He _would_...

He would _have to_...

He would have to with _someone_...

He would have to with someone _who was not_...

Silver could barely think about what he _knew_ he would _eventually_ have to do.

_Master Kaname... _Silver thought. _Master Kaname, I don't want to..._

_**No**_.

Master Kaname was _just_ another master.

Silver Night was _just_ a Doll.

Dolls were things that could be used and abused. An object that was thrown away like trash once damaged. An entity that was touched...but wasn't allowed to feel.

A person that was never cherished, loved, or protected.

_He will not come for me._ Silver realized. _He will not come for me._

And then Silver's heart broke at his painfully new understanding. _I am unsafe again._

Unsafe.

Unsafe. _Unsafe_. **Unsafe.**

Silver was unsafe again.

_Like always._

* * *

_**Meanwhile...In a Particular Dark Place... **_

Kubo Jun, Second Warden of Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island, snarled.

These damn prisoner savages! They give us vampires a bad name! "How many prisoners died this time?" His snarled at his Captain.

Captain Taguchi Morou grudgingly stared at his onsite boss.

"We don't have the exact numbers, Warden." Captain Morou said slowly. "But I've estimated about 25 to 30 prisoners were killed in this latest riot."

"25 to 30 prisoners?" Warden Jun yelled. "What are the Cell Blocks the majority of the murders occurred in?"

"2 and 4 Cell Block." Captain Morou gamely answered.

Warden Jun was once again rendered speechless.

Most of the victims of this latest riot came from Cell Block 2 and 4?

Those two cell block areas housed nearly all the members of the Dark Horse Prison Faction Gang. The Dark Horse Prison Faction Gang (aka DPFG) was one of the wildest prison gangs Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island had to offer, and only _fools_ would dare to cross them. Their current leader was a vampire noble woman named Adachi Satomi who was a borderline sociopath on a _good_ day.

However, the Dark Horse Prison Gang (DPFG) was the oldest of the prison gangs of Sing Sing Prisoner Island. However, DPFG wasn't the only prisoner gangs here. _Oh no._ Life wasn't that simple! There were two other major prison gangs here: The Blue Dragon Prison Gang and The Scarface Prison Gang.

Each if these three prison gangs had their distinct personalities, rules, and arrangement of awful characters. Nevertheless, between the two rival gangs of DPFG, only one of them would be _bold_ enough to do such a nasty thing on Warden Jun's watch.

Only one gang – _one person,_ in particular – could have planned this.

There was a saying in Sing Sing. A saying that all inhabitants – criminal and staff – knew alike.

_The Dark Horse Gang was the wildest. The Blue Dragon Prison Gang was the smartest. __**However, the Scarface Prison Gang is the deadliest. **_

The deadliness of Scarface was _solely_ due to one terrible man.

Warden Jun felt a dark chill go down his spine.

Once, long ago, the Leader of Dark Horse, Adachi Satomi, warned him about that evil man the day he first arrived here. She looked him square in the eyes and warned him about the threat he was, and it would be best if they just _killed_ him on the spot. Warden Jun refused to do what she had asked, but he still remembered her chilling words to him even to this day.

"_I may be a revolting criminal to you, Warden." She sneered with hateful blue eyes. "But that man is __**evil**__ itself." _

By Night...he _should_ have listened to her.

"He's behind the attack isn't he?" Warden Jun asked his Captain wearily. "The Leader of Scarface is _behind_ all of this?"

A dark silence descended between the two top staff leaders of Sing Sing. They knew once it was broken, they couldn't go back to the way it was.

"Yes, Warden." Captain Taguchi grimly confirmed. "_Kenichi Daisuki_, the Leader of Scarface, is the one behind this latest riot."

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** Ho ho! XP Guess whose _also_ is going to meet and trouble our dear Silver/Zero later? Did any of you forgot about Kenichi, eh? He was bound to show up, you know! X_X I foresee terrible things happening to a bunch of the characters in the future. XD Goodness, so much dark angst/character development is going to happen in this arc. Poor everybody! XD

Also, sorry for the non-citrus in this chapter! I really wanted some important 'Kaname's character development/explanation' out of the way before all the craziness started again. ;D And that took _way_ longer than I had expected. However, I guess all my readers now know that whenever I try to plan out my chapters...it usually ends up being _way_ off the mark. ;_; (For example, Zero and Yuki's first meeting was somewhere in the early eighty chapters ranges for this story...but that may not happened at this rate. (Dodges another tomato) However, please be forewarned, the first meeting between Yuki and Zero/Silver is a key turning point for this fic and it will _not_ be what you all might expect! XD)

Anyway, while I was writing the...intense...citrus/lime... (And, my goodness, it nearly became a full-blown lemon! *_* I think I might be becoming a true perv! Zero and Yuki were each other's first and I'm sticking to that point... gun's blazing...but man oh man! XD I'm _scared_ out of my mind, ya'll. Such a flow shouldn't really happen! A KanamexZero moment is way different than a KanamexSilver! _Way different!_ 0_0') and it got _way_ too long for this chapter, so I decided that instead of cutting out all the teasing description, I would put it off in next chapter! XD Hopefully, it will be worth it to you guys.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! The more you guys do, the faster I work my little fingers off for you! :)


	76. Chapter 75 Power, Part III

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

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**Warning: Strong sexual content in this chapter! Reader Beware! **

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**Chapter Seventy–Five: Power, Part III**

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**101 Years Ago **

People often thought that Zero Kiryu was either a fearless warrior or a reckless fool. In some ways, Zero actually encouraged such a view of himself, but in all honesty, Zero was neither.

Zero wasn't fearless or a warrior or reckless or a fool. He was just a man. A simple man who tried to do what he felt he should do. It wasn't that Zero didn't feel fear, terror, or apprehension when confronting various dangers or enemies. Oh, he felt those emotions clearly. However, Zero _also_ knew that he needed to overcome those negative feelings when he wanted to protect something of great value to him. So, Zero wasn't simply a fearless fighter or reckless idiot. He felt the emotions of fear, pain, and heartache just like everyone else in the world, but he was an expert in hiding those fears and putting on a show of bravery and daring.

So as Zero pointed his beloved gun in the direction of a soon-to-appear and always mysterious enemy, Zero felt his typical fear whenever he confronted the off-balancing pureblood male vampire.

Zero's hunter instincts screamed and his gut was twisting with cold dread. However, Zero stood firm. Just like he did the first time he met that dark-eyed pureblood and every successive meeting afterwards.

And then Kaname Kuran appeared.

Zero continued to point his gun towards his old rival and he _prayed_ that his aim was perfect.

Despite the past few weeks for Zero, where everything felt normal yet not-so-normal, at this moment – everything made sense to him.

This situation was _blissfully_ normal.

It felt normal to aim his gun at him. It felt normal to feel a terrible fear when his second oldest enemy appeared before him. It even felt normal that he was about to enter into an uncertain and possibly mortally dangerous conflict with a person who could crush him like a grape if he really wanted to (but for some strange reason, Zero always kept trying to fight).

In fact, everything about this confrontation felt so terribly normal.

But what _didn't_ feel normal was the fact that Zero had _**no idea**_ why he was truly fighting this scary person in the _first_ place.

_**To protect. **_

Despite all the new ways people looked at the two genders (and according to his Vampire Hunter Instructor Toga – most of all this new 'knowledge' about men and women were nothing more the wishful-thinking western feminist garbage), at the end of the day, a man wasn't a damn man until he found something worth dying for.

Good men are protectors, and a real man will always find something worthy to protect.

It just so happened that Zero was born into a vampire hunter family, so his 'man thing worth dying for' was the protection of the human race from the monsters of the night.

Kind of a grand goal, don't you think?

And make no mistake about it, as the chief monster of the night, Pureblood Kaname Kuran, was the person Zero felt he wanted to protect the world from the most.

There was a type of..._darkness_...to Kuran that Zero immediately recognized the moment he first met him. Despite his mild-mannered habits or seemingly gentle actions or soft-handed ways, Zero's instincts always screamed that it was all a deception. Unlike all the other vampires, Zero knew, talked to, and fought against, Zero could never really _trust_ Kuran's outward persona.

Something always seemed..._hidden_...about him. Something always seemed..._obscure_...in his actions. It was something that Zero always knew and felt, but was unable to really explain or describe.

Zero just knew that what Kuran tried to present to the world wasn't his true self.

And that Kuran's true self was probably..._forebodingly_ _**horrifying**_.

All the same, Zero felt like he didn't know _what_ or _who_ or _why_ he felt like protecting. He knew he was suppose to protect..._something_ (or _someone_), but the reasons to do so were completely lost to him.

It was _so_ strange – this odd feeling inside him.

Zero felt like he was missing an important part of himself.

A strange tension was within the powerful pureblood because of these last few events. It was a tension that seemed to gnaw at him continuously, but despite the irrational feeling, he was more disturbed by the fact that all his emotions seemed to be focused on the ex-human vampire hunter.

Kaname Kuran felt his familiar feeling of enigmatic agitation when he stared at his _least_ favorite person in the world.

_By darkness, why was he even here?_

Ever since he learned that Yuki erased herself from Kiryu's mind, _Kaname's_ mind had started to twist in various odd directions when he thought about the morning sun was soon to rise. However, Kaname decided to take a short walk through the school grounds to clear his equally confused thoughts about this particular silver-haired person. His thoughts had become no clearer with his efforts, thus he was feeling more worrying distress the more he thought about it.

On one hand, Kaname no longer _needed_ Zero Kiryu as the daylight protector for his sister. Yuki regained her true pureblood form, thus it was expected that she would forever join him by his side in her home world. Also, Kiryu had destroyed his uncle-descendent, thus Kaname was free to do whatever he wished with nothing able to stop him. Therefore, Kaname didn't _require_ Kiryu to be his prized pawn anymore, and he could just _**forget** _about the man's existence.

On the other hand, while Kaname no longer needed him. Kaname was getting the feeling that he..._**wanted...**_him. Wanted him in ways that were totally conflicting, wholly clashing, and utterly chaotic.

Kaname grown so use to Kiryu's unusual existence in his world that Kaname wasn't really sure he wanted Kiryu to leave it. Kiryu was something that was familiar yet always surprisingly new – he was _comforting_ but also extremely _**exasperating**_. Kaname didn't know what it was about Kiryu that made him feel so _excited_ about his existence but also so dreadfully _**hateful**_ about it at the same time.

Zero Kiryu was like..._**light**_.

To a creature of the night like Kaname, Kiryu was like an imperceptible embodied of daylight. A being who luminosity was like a cinema spotlight. A creature whose very existence illuminated the entire dark world.

_**And darkness always desires light.**_

A moment of tense silence descended between the two males – both pureblood and ex-human – and they realized that despite their confused inner states – _this_ current situation they found themselves in was...strangely normal.

It was _normal_.

Pointing a gun at the crafty pureblood prick was a _normal_ day in Zero Kiryu's book.

And Kaname Kuran having a gun aimed at him by an annoying ex-human hunter was _normal_ in his.

This situation was _normal_.

Normal. _Normal_. **Normal**.

Somewhat humorless, Kaname decided to pick at the younger teen. "What game are you playing with yourself, ex-human?" Kaname's smooth voice echoed softly over the school forest.

_Game?_ Zero's right eyebrow twitched. This asshole! He wasn't playing a _game_! He was training! But instead of stating the _obvious_, Zero decided that he would sarcastically play along with Kuran's insult by giving back as good as he got. "The only games _**I**_ play are the games where I _**defeat**_ and _**slay**_ all the _monsters_ of the world." Zero gave Kuran a mocking stare – clearly implying that _he_ was such a monster. "Every monster needs a slayer, don't you agree?" Zero sweepingly mocked.

_Monster._

Kamane's eyes darkly flashed.

_Monster. _

Like the years hadn't even happened, that bratty little silver-haired child _**still remain**_ an unpleasant silver-haired horror, and Kaname's suddenly unleashed hidden anger found a _perfect_ target.

Without the slightly bit of warning and moving faster than the human (and the majority of un-human) eyes could see, Kaname grabbed Zero by the throat and harshly slammed him against the nearest tree.

Zero tried to pull the trigger of his gun, but Kuran's movements were unexpectedly fast! While his body was viciously slammed against a cold tree bark, his lean legs were forced apart causing him to lose his balance. Kaname's other hand gripped Zero's gun holding one, and the pureblood tightly squeezed both Zero's smarting wrist and dry throat. Hot air was instantly pushed out of Zero's shocked lungs, and he was utterly winded.

_Submit!_ _**Submit!**_

In a hidden part of his soul, Zero's inner vampire mourned. It vehemently demanded that Zero submit to the obviously _superior_ keeper of their race. (Which Zero ignored.) It fervently demanded that Zero yield to his angry better (And Zero decided to keep ignoring it...), and it passionately pleaded for him to _willing_ surrender to this powerful pureblood lord. (Zero's ignore button was on overdrive it seemed.)

_Submit._ It cried. _Submit_. _**SUBMIT!**_

Zero promptly told his inner vampire to _kiss his lily ass_.

It hadn't happened before and it wouldn't happen in the future, so why the _hell_ was Zero going to submit to this pureblood monster, now? Summoning his rage, Zero angrily watched Kuran out of blazing purple eyes. The _second_ Kuran let his guard down, Zero was going to happily pump this bastard with a few new anti-vampire bullets!

Kaname felt a familiar annoyance with his ex-human hunter pawn. He being an ex-human made his inner vampire _greatly_ displeased that he didn't submit to him like every other lower level vampire did. This rebelliousness was something that _irked_ Kaname to no end! Perhaps if Kiryu acted like a normal ex-human and simply _submitted_ to him like he _should_ have, Kaname wouldn't be so confused with his views and feelings towards him now!

How dare Kiryu fight against those who were _obviously_ his betters? How dare a creature of the night break the unwritten laws of the Nightfall world? How dare Kiryu act so..._noble_...to Yuki! How dare he treat _her_ with such _gentleness_ and treat **him** with utter **contempt**!

_**How dare he?**_

"I am growing very weary of your constant rebelliousness, Kiryu." Kuran lowly growled. His dark-brown eyes flashed darkly. "There is no reason for you to constantly fight against me when it is _I_ that allow you to _continue to live_."

Something inside Zero cracked.

Let him live? _Let him live?_

"Do you really think _you_ have _any_ **say** in _**my life**_?" Zero hissed back defiantly - completing ignoring the fact that at any moment the angry pureblood could snap his neck like a Kit-Kat bar. "Do you really think you can tell me what I can and cannot do?" He whispered.

Zero's lavender eyes burned with razor-sharp light. "I live according to my own rules, you bloodsucking bastard." Zero hissed. "So, don't bother trying to tell me what I should and shouldn't do!"

Kuran's dark-brown eyes seemed to flash a warning red. And while his hands squeezed Zero's neck and gun-holding hand tighter, that action wasn't what triggered a dark feeling of dread in Zero.

_Oh, no. _

Zero gasped and something inside him _terribly_ shook.

Now, this was the _**one**_ thing that _**wasn't normal!**_

Zero felt the fate was such a cruel bitch. His unnatural hunger pangs for blood came upon him without warning.

Feed. _Feed_. **Feed**.

Blood. **Blood**. _Blood_.

Zero _winced_.

The coldness inside him that he had been denying came out in full force. Zero knew exactly why this was happened, and the knowledge chilled him. Even though he was now stabilized as a Level D vampire, it didn't get rid of urge to drink blood. _Not at all._ However, what made this terrible thirst so much _more_ terrible was the fact that Zero knew the blood that his inner vampire really desired was pureblood vampire's blood.

_Pureblood vampire's blood._

Zero desired to drink blood, and while that was horrifying to a hunter, in and of itself, what also made this situation so much worst was that the _blood_ that his inner vampire yearned for was from the most unlikeliest of persons. Of all the blood to desire, Zero Kiryu, twin-combined ex-human vampire hunter, desperately desired to taste the blood of this vile pureblood monster - who was also his greatest enemy.

**_Zero wanted Kuran's blood._**

If it wasn't so ironic, Zero would break out in a harsh pitying laughter.

Zero _knew_ it was because he could only remember drinking this man's blood in the past. For what crazy reason, Zero didn't know. Surely, he had to have drunken from someone else...but _that_ person was someone he couldn't now remember!

_**Flash!**__ "Your thirst will be reduced from now on... because the girl who was causing your starvation... has disappeared from your heart." The strange pureblood teen girl softly said to him._

Yet, despite that, Zero _did_ remember drinking _Kuran's blood_.

Oh, how he _bitterly_ remembered it.

Zero had once drunk from this man, and the taste of it still haunted him to this day.

Feed. _Feed_. **Feed**.

Blood. **Blood**. _Blood_.

_A chance! A chance! _ Zero's inner vampire loudly demanded that he _immediately_ consume the desperately desired blood. _Take! Take!_

Zero told it to _shut the hell up!_

That...**wasn't**..._going_... to..._**happened**_!

Darkly annoyed that the ex-human would dare to insult and rebel against him (yet again), Kaname was trying to figure out what he could say to the vile hunter that could _hurt_ him. However, when Kiryu grew very still and didn't say anything else, Kaname was unsettled by the rapid change.

Shouldn't the hunter still be trying to shoot him? Wasn't that how this game of theirs worked?

But when he saw his hunter's facial expression, Kaname's eyes _flashed_. His instincts quickly recognized the young hunter's..._**problem**_.

And his lips twisted into a cold queer smile.

The ex-human had the..._**thirst**_.

What a..._curious_...problem for the man.

Kaname lessened his grip slightly on the ex-human's pale neck allowing the man to breath and speak. But he didn't move from his close and caging position. A hungry vampire wasn't exactly the most rational of creatures, you know. "You desire blood, don't you hunter?" Kaname mercilessly mocked. "Just like the _monsters_ you so desperately hate, _no_?" Mentally, Kaname wondered how he could use these strange turns of events to his advantage.

Nevertheless, Zero could hardly pay attention to what the pureblood was saying to him. The coldness inside him was getting out of control now, but he would be _damned_ if he didn't exercise his legendary self-control on _this_ matter.

_I do not want his blood. I do not want his blood._ Zero chanted to himself. _**I do not want his blood.** _

Yet, with the pureblood lessening his grip on his throat, Kuran's unique scent flooded Zero's sensitive nose, and he started to lightly _pant_. Zero could feel an appalling burning desire coil in his stomach and gnaw at his intestines again. All of his muscles tightened, and Zero _knew_ he needed to get away immediately.

The man smelt like ancient power, intoxicating old wine, and faraway rich spices.

Strangely, Zero wanted to run his wet tongue along the side of the pureblood's slender neck and sharply sink his fangs into the pureblood's satin smooth throat.

Zero rapidly blinked his lavender eyes.

His thoughts were becoming strange.

Gasping roughly, Zero tried to push Kaname off him. "Leave me alone, Kuran." He slowly said. "If not, I'll try to _feed_ on you." He enigmatically threaten - deciding to be bluntly honest so that he could get out of this embarrassing situation. Zero was many things, but he was _still_ a person. And every person has their times of weakness to temptation. Zero did a _very_ good job of trying to fight against such unnatural desires by avoiding it, and _he won't fail now. _It hurt Zero's pride to admit such a weakness, but if that was what it took...so be it.

Zero would _**not**_ drink this bastard's blood.

He would not.

_**He would not. **_

But...

Kuran didn't _bulge_ from his position at all.

And Zero's breathing became more _**erratic**_.

The pureblood silently took in the heavily breathing and obviously bloodthirsty ex-human. He was surprised that the man was so..._outright_. Kaname would have thought the man would have tried to _deny_ it (like usual) , and if he _had_, Kaname would have mercilessly _taunted_ him. But if Kiryu was going to be so honest about his current weakness, Kaname really had no tactics to play against him then.

So, did Kaname want the ex-human to feed on him?

Of course not.

There was no need. Yuki was now a pureblood, and she had erased her existence from Kiryu's mind. So, there was no need for Kaname to help or aid this person's problem. And...judging by that dark look of his...Kiryu obviously wasn't asking for his help either.

Kaname should just step away and allow this young hunter to leave _but_...something inside Kaname felt _wickedly_ _pleased_ at this clear opportunity. After all, how often was Kaname able to engage in the hunter in a relatively weakened state? Kiryu's usual responses of attacking him and his constant disrespect would be somewhat..._muted_...in his desperation.

And another dark part of Kaname still felt like _toying_ with the teen.

Zero grew wholly frustrated. _What the hell was this guy's problem?_ Didn't he see that Zero was trying to keep the peace between them by being _abnormally_ _civil_? Heck, Zero was even trying to _retreat!_ And if anything could be said about the young hunter it would be that 'retreating', especially against a such longtime and terrible enemy, wasn't a _normal_ occurrence for him!

Zero was being pulled into so many directions that it was getting hard for him to clearly focus on what he needed to do. "Do you _want_ me to feed on you?" Zero snapped. Why_ won't _the prick _just leave him alone?_

"Let me pass." Zero said and _not_ in an 'asking' tone.

Kaname snarled. Even in such a weakened state, this person challenged and defied him. Kaname did not take kindly to being ordered around – especially by an _ex-human._

So, Kaname leaned in closer to Zero to viciously deny him. "You can go once I'm done with you, my dear scary hunter." Kaname's tone dripped with mockery. "Do not think you can tell me what do to." He lowly whispered.

Zero's lavender eyes flashed. _Damn it!_ He wasn't in the mood or physical state to deal with another one of this bastard's head games!

Zero tried to violently shift his body out of Kuran's hold but suddenly his senses were _**engulfed**_ with the pureblood's heady natural scent again and Zero nearly _forgot_ what he was trying to do. Unbecoming, Zero lightly brushed his small nose against the top of Kaname's clothed shoulder. He took a deep breath, and the perfume of ancient wine overwhelmed him. Zero's mind started to slowly spin as his cold thirst unexpectedly got _stronger_ and _**stronger**_.

Yet Kaname was totally amazed and _suddenly_ unsure of this situation. He wasn't expecting his body's reaction to Kiryu's rash movements.

Kiryu's hot breath against his clothed shoulder was...

_**Arousing**_.

Kiryu's hot gasps of breath were steadily warming that unusual spot. Too soon, Kaname felt as if those small warm breaths were creating a steady stream of balmy heat that washed through his entire icy body. Without warning, a pair of unbelievably soft lips pressed themselves in a forceful closed-mouth kiss on his covered shoulder and a small quick lick of a tepid wet tongue lightly greeted his clothed flesh.

Despite the barrier, Kaname felt like he was just touched by _**fire**__**light**_.

By darkness, what would it have felt like if his shoulder was _nude?_

Kaname's mind suddenly whirled.

This..._situation_...could get out of hand.

_This isn't good!_ Zero thought to himself. _This isn't good at all._ He could barely control himself now. The coldness inside him was becoming _**unbearable**_. He was pressing his lips tightly against Kuran's shoulder and, mildly, he wondered why he wasn't a million bloody pieces as yet. Surely, Kuran felt that! And, clearly, he would be completely pissed off!

By the sword! Zero needed to get away! _He needed to get away __**right now**__!_

With his forehead slightly resting on the pureblood's shoulder, Zero said. "You need to leave me alone, Kuran." He heavily panted into Kaname's right ear."I can barely..._control_ myself from... _biting_ you." He said. "You need to leave me alone."

Zero's inner vampire was _too_ close. His dark beast wanted to take over, and the humanity inside of him was desperately fighting against it – but quickly losing. With his desire so close, his inner vampire felt like it was _foolish_ to give up such a chance, but Zero's logical mind fought hard against it. Surely this asshole wouldn't want him to bite him? Didn't such a thing go against some pureblood honor code or other such crap? An ex-human drinking the blood of a pureblood? _Ha!_ Such a thing could never happen! And this –

Instantly, Zero was assaulted with memories of the past.

**_Flash!_**

_His left hand was on Kuran's shoulder..._

_His right hand had his gun pointed at Kuran's brain..._

_But his mouth was wide open...devouring Kaname's __**delicious hot **__**blood**__..._

A terrible shiver rushed through Zero's tightly coiled and coldly _burning_ body. It happened before, didn't it? It had _actually_ happened before. This was why his body seemed to be reacting so strongly towards the pureblood's presence. If it happened once, it could happen again, no? Zero's breathing was getting even more out of line and his limbs started to violently shake.

If he didn't get out of here...

Kaname's heard Kiryu whisper his warning words hotly against the clothed flesh of his shoulder. The feelings of heat and of anxiety ripped through him and he felt his heart beat _faster_.

Kaname had only allowed _two_ people to drink from him.

_Just two people. _

One was asleep...and the _other..._was right here...

One was what he _always wanted_...and the other was something that he _suddenly desired_ to have...

One was pureblood and bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. One day, she would be just like him and on that day – Kaname would achieve his inner peace.

However, _this_ _one_ in his arms currently...was _not_ like him. He was nothing like him. _Nothing at all._ He was a stranger to his world. An outcast. _An enemy._ So utterly _**different**_ to him in every aspect but... was the sole source of pure and hot _light_ in his endless dark world.

So...why not play this new game? Why not have some odd fun? Kaname wanted to see where this event could lead to. Perhaps by even doing this, he would finally have the answer as to what he should do with this strange and rare silver-haired creature...

...With his touches that felt like _flames_...

Kaname made a reckless decision.

Drawing himself slightly away from the trapped Kiryu, he quickly unbuttoning his white dress shirt. "Then _don't_ control yourself, Kiryu." Kuran heartedly whispered - throwing all caution to the wind.

Before Zero's stunned eyes, the pureblood opened his white shirt and slipped off the trapping fabric off his right shoulder. The white shirt hung uselessly off the other side of his body, but the entire right side of Kuran's moonlight naked neck, shoulder, and chest were _fully_ displayed.

Zero wondered if he was having a dream. _No._ Not a dream! _**This had to be a nightmare!**_ What the **hell** was going on?

In a disturbingly alluring voice that made something inside Zero _quiver_, Kuran's smooth voice gave out a dark temptation. "I will allow you to drink from me, hungry _hungry_ hunter." Kuran's voice wickedly said.

_**THE FUCK? **_

This was _**not**_ happening!

"_**No**_." Zero lightly groaned. He roughly tried to push Kuran off him completely _**again**_, but his _weakness_ was all too apparent. "_I don't want your blood._" He loudly snapped out his ball-face lie. "Go away, Kuran."

It would be like this bastard to do something like this! To tempt him with something Zero knew he couldn't _seriously_ be offering. Was this some sort of trick? While Zero **did not like** the asshole, he _did_ **know** him and Kaname Kuran did _nothing_ out of the good will of his black heart. Kaname had no reason to offer this and Zero had no reason to play this game with him.

Zero would sooner drink _burning oil_ then willing drink blood from this night bastard.

Yet the coldness inside him painfully seep through his entire body. Zero's inner vampire snarled and clawed against his soul – totally enraged that he would actually dare to refuse this great chance and privilege before him. Like a cruel disease, the coldness rapidly raced through him like a flood. Zero swallowed the lump in the back of his throat, but he began to tremble harder. It seemed like the coldness inside him was quickly strengthening his dreadful thirsting.

_I need...to...get...those damn pills._ Zero thought to himself. They would be his saving grace.

While still awful, at least they worked now. After he consumed his twin who had drunk his creator's blood, Zero stabilized. One could almost consider him a 'normal' vampire. Nevertheless, due to his hunter genes, no one knew what 'normal' was for him. There has never been a case in which a _twin-combined_ human vampire hunter with his level of ancient vampire genes had been changed into an ex-human. In fact, Zero was something of a freak-show. His powers and abilities were unknowable at this point. However, at the very least, ever since he had stabilized, he no longer needed real blood to survive.

Zero didn't need real blood to live. He could _want_ it, but he didn't **need** it.

While he wouldn't be operating at 'one hundred percent' (whatever one hundred percent for him was anyway) without it, Zero could get by. Therefore, Zero Kiryu made it his mission not to reopen that terrible chapter in his life again.

Thus, Kuran's offer made no sense to him. Why would the man even care in the first place?

Zero didn't need blood. He didn't. _**He didn't.**_

That didn't mean, however, that he still didn't _desire_ it though.

In spite of Zero's inner war, Kaname was becoming... predatory. As he watched the many expressions of the ex-human's face, he saw him warring with himself terribly over his obvious desire for blood.

His hunter always fought this.

Always. _Always_. **Always**.

And Kaname could see that his hunter was going to choose the hard and '_noble'_ path again.

The path of denial, sacrifice, and suffering.

_**That wouldn't do. **_

Strangely, the dark side of Kaname was intriguingly maddened with _this_ trait of his hunter. The young man _always_ chose the nobler path. The young man _always_ did things that he thought were right. The young man _always_ thought of others before himself and Kaname..._**despised**_ that.

Goodness. _Nobleness_. **Rightness**.

These things _**did not**_ belong in the Nightfall World.

Kaname wanted to see Kiryu go **_wild_**. Not in his usual protective ways, but in a way that was _**not** _his usual sense. Kaname suddenly desired to see _Kiryu_ lose _**complete control.**_

Kaname wanted to see what _Kiryu's dark nature_ was like – or see if Kiryu had one _at all_.

_Zero Kiryu's dark nature..._

Kaname wanted to see if his ball of light had some _darkness_ somewhere in it.

Therefore, Kaname reached around the back of Kiryu's head and harshly pulled Kiryu's towards his pale neck. He would suffer no argument about this. "Drink, Kiryu." Kaname urged.

Zero's red lips tightly pressed themselves against Kaname's nude shoulder once again.

No. _No_. **No**.

Yes. _Yes_. **Yes**.

Zero's body felt boneless, cold, and sluggish. His inner vampire was clawing at him now – desperate to take completely over – and Zero's mind was heedlessly spinning.

No. _No_. **No**.

Yes. _Yes_. **Yes**.

Zero silently starred at the creamy skin presented before him. He could actually see Kuran's pulse throb in rhythm to his whispered temptation contained in one dark word. "_Drink_."

Kuran was _so_ close, _so_ vulnerable, _so_ temptingly intoxicating...

Yet Zero knew _something_ about this situation was bad...so very, _very_ bad...and it was like...

_Come into my pallor said the black spider to the silver butterfly..._

Zero felt like he was being drawn into a very dark place, but the coldness within him and Kaname's terrible strength was taking him hostage in his own soul.

The scent of Kuran..._the nearness of his blood_...**the softness of his flesh**...

Zero whimpered, and made one last _desperate_ effort to push Kuran away...

No. _No_. **No**.

Yes. _Yes_. **Yes**.

Kaname felt Kiryu trying to rebel _**again,**_ and thus he decided to use more of his dangerous percussion. Kaname clenched the back of Kiryu's head and pulled his entire body roughly against his. Dazed, he felt the man's flesh tremble in his hands, and Kaname's dark heart _crowed_.

His hunter was almost there.

Kaname turned his face away so that the hungry hunter could have better access to his blood. As the obviously stronger of the two, he would be able to pull Zero off of him if the man got too rowdy. But Kaname unmanageably craved to see what Zero would become if he lost complete control, which often happened when vampires exchanged blood with each other.

Kiryu just needed one more push.

So Kaname mocked him. "And still you refuse to drink...like a stubborn reckless child."

_Stubborn reckless child? _

For some strange reason, Zero became enraged at that _particular_ insult.

_Stubborn reckless child? _

How dare he? How dare he mock him when Zero was trying so hard to resist temptation?

The feeling of intense and irrational anger overwhelmed him and with that rash feeling...

Zero _**pierced**_ Kuran's flesh.

And as the warm blood of pureblood spurted into his greedy mouth, Zero instantly _lost_ himself.

His inner vampire took over _completely,_ and Zero was lost. The very moment that the rich blood of pureblood danced on his tongue, Zero's lavender eyes flashed and became a dark ruby hue. His dark inner vampire unleashed himself, and Zero felt like he was suddenly pulled along on a dangerous out-of-control ride.

As the coppery liquid coated his dry throat, a blissful _warmth_ began to race through Zero's frozen system. The cold deadness inside him was retreating as he slowly drank from his enemy. Too soon, the coldness inside Zero was giving way to a pleasing heat...which was quickly becoming an internal blaze.

The person that Zero was now was pure vampire. A pure vampire that was heedlessly relishing the warm life liquid that swan down his desperately thirsty throat.

Kaname felt Kiryu's hot breathing against his flesh. Each breath seemed to let loose _thousands_ of pleasure pulses within his heavily beating heart. As Kiryu's fangs buried themselves into his skin, Kaname nearly closed his gleaming garnet-chocolate eyes and almost purred with wicked contentment at his success.

Still, Kaname had been expecting pain with the ex-human's bite. But he was pleasantly surprised to see that Zero's vampire nature had completely taken him over. It was a sight that Kaname never saw before and something deep within him was nefariously _gleeful_ about it.

Mildly, Kaname recognized the difference between a true-born vampire's bite and an ex-human's. Because ex-humans were not true vampires, their fangs were smaller and lighter than the average born vampire – pureblood, noble, or common like. It didn't mean that their fangs didn't get the job done – it did – but it usually meant that their bites were generally _more_ painful. In this and many other ways, ex-humans were like foreign immigrants or exile persons in the Nightfall World – while one could live in such a world, it didn't mean that the natural inhabitants of that land would ever truly see them as peer native.

Kaname was _excitedly_ surprised though.

Unlike the first time he had allowed this to happen...Kaname felt a frenzied sense of sheer utter pleasure at his hunter's unusual bite.

Then Kiryu sank his small delicate fangs into his neck further, and the pureblood vampire lightly groaned. Kiryu began to frenziedly _suck_ in his crimson elixir, and he freely drank from Kaname's neck without a shred of remorse – his body turbulently trembling as he hastily drank to silence his long dark thirst.

So rude. _So impatient._ **So challenging.**

Kaname darkly smiled, and he tightened his fist in Zero's short silky hair while his other hand began to carelessly explore his undefeated body. Kaname rolled his head more to the side and gave the ex-human more room.

Zero was devouring him _sensually_ and, surprisingly, very _softly,_ despite his seemly speedily actions.

Kaname felt like all of his flesh was starting to blaze.

Nonetheless, Zero's logical mind was far gone - far gone and off away to an _epic_ tropical vacation.

A smooth warmth seemed to grow in the pit of his stomach and spread to every single part of his body. With each small gulp of the ruby liquid, Zero felt his insides heat up and his body stopped its shivering. Far too soon, Zero felt like he was sizzling inside his own skin.

However, even while Zero felt warmed by this dark vampire's blood...

Even while this blood tasted _so_ **familiar** and _so_ _**good**_ and _so_ _**wonderful**_...

**This was not the taste he **_**really**_** desired. **

It was _close_, but _not quite_ the very thing he desperately wanted or what his tongue still currently ached for.

But before Zero could really focus on that strange understanding, another troubling thought raced through his confused mind.

While Zero may not have truly desired _this_ particular favor of blood, something about it darkly stirred something within him that _greatly_ **disturbed** him.

Kuran's blood wasn't the one that he wanted..._**but**_...

_But..._

But _**Kuran's favor**_ was something that Zero _knew_ he could become _**addicted**_ too.

And that was **scary** to _**think**_.

It was _so_ _very_ _scary_ to think that **Kaname** **Kuran** could ever have such a _**dark power over him**_.

Startled at that particular realization, Zero immediately stopped his blood drinking and leaned his sweating head back against the cold tree.

"_I'm...done_**."** Zero panted. "I'm... _done_...so... **let**...me...go." But even to his own ears, his voice sounded too rough and too thick.

Kaname was equally astonished. He would have thought that he would have to rip the ex-human off him like he'd done before to stop his blood-drinking, but it was obvious that he wouldn't have to do that.

Yet Kaname _still_ wasn't satisfied with the new change in direction.

He wanted _more_, but he wasn't sure _why_ or _what_ he wanted...

So, looking for an answer, Kaname watched Kiryu carefully, noting that his usual eye color had unexpectedly changed. Kaname saw that Kiryu's eyes were a glowing crimson hue when they dared to meet his own garnet-chocolate orbs.

Within Kaname's dark soul – a sleeping beast **_stirred_**.

Even as Kiryu denied it with his lips, his blazing red eyes still spoke of a naked hunger and thirst.

The sight was undoing him.

Kaname's blood started to boil now, and he felt a _different_ type of thirst he never thought he would feel towards this shocking man. And without pausing to think about the consequence to _this_ action...

Kaname _captured_ Zero's blood-painted ruby lips.

Kaname slipped his hot tongue into the flabbergasted ex-human's mouth. The ex-human emitted a harsh strangling noise, but Kaname ran his tongue over his – slightly nicking his own tongue - and the blood from that small wound poured into the bowled over silver-haired man.

The fresh taste of pureblood's blood combined with the carefully sweeping over of Kaname's teasing tongue over the side of Zero's cheeks and the roof of his mouth – _forced_ Zero to surrender. Kaname retreated for a moment and nibbled on Zero's lower lip. His fangs teased the wet surface of his mouth gently.

Zero wondered what was _happening! _

But then Kaname deepened their stunning bloody kiss.

He felt like lightning had hit him, and he was on **_fire_**. In fact, he felt like he had been _drinking_ fire, because his throat _never_ felt so dry before.

Kuran was kissing him.

**Kuran was kissing him.**

He kissed him, and this kiss was the embodiment of every forbidden act and dangerous desire Zero ever felt. This kiss felt unknown but so darkly ancient. Zero felt like something _deviant_ was opening inside him - as if he had opened a door inside his burning soul that should have _**never**_ been opened.

But all Zero knew was, was that his hands _weren't_ shoving Kuran away.

They weren't. _**They weren't!**_

_**But**_ they weren't _dangling_ helplessly to the sides...nor were they shoving him away either!

Zero marveled at the betrayal.

Amazingly, one of his hands was tightly clenched in Kuran's medium-length brown locs and the other was tightly gripping his shoulder.

_**Submit.**_

_What the hell?_ Zero wildly thought – his heart hammering out of control. _Why was this happening?_

Zero's inner vampire only responded with three shocking words.

_For his pleasure. _

This was _**mad****ness**__!_

With Kiryu's shocking _support_, eagerly, Kaname's hands swiftly slid themselves under Zero's shirt. Frustrated with his limited access – he nearly tore it open, but he settled on running his hands over the man's abdomen flesh like a painter over a spotless canvass.

"_**Ahaa****!**_" Zero lowly groaned, and slightly closed his gleaming eyes. A light red blush blasted around his high cheeks and he bit his lips fiercely. His fangs almost drawing up his own blood.

This could go _too_ far.

For a brief moment, Kaname was flabbergasted for the thousandth time this night.

_Such a reaction..._

_At something so small..._

Kaname was _utterly_ amazed.

_**...Untouched... **_

This rebellious hunter..._this challenging ex-human_..._**this cold warrior**_...

..._**was untouched by carnal caresses. **_

Something inside Kaname _**inhumanly snapped **_as a conquering merriment burned within him.

_**He**_ could be the _first_ to **claim him.**

Kaname could totally **_claim_ **this rebellious pawn of his. He could utterly claim his strange example of wondrous light and, by doing so, keep this ray of light with him _forever_.

Now, Kaname wanted his quickly hardening cock to be fully sheathed inside _his_ vampire hunter. He wanted to fit and fill his _entire_ hidden spaces. Kaname wanted Zero to feel every hot drop of his essence. And to have it mark and paint Zero's private passageway as _his_ **possession** and _**his alone.**_

_**And it would happen now!**_

Zero felt a dangerous change in the suddenly hot air.

Distantly, Zero knew his vampire nature was somewhat restricting his total understanding of what was _actually_ going on. Because somehow he knew – _he just knew_ – that Kuran's original intentions towards him had been twisted into an entirely new direction. Zero had no idea what this strange change meant and, strangely, some dark part of him didn't even _care_ because of the...

_**Pleasure. **_

Ferocious pulses of pleasures erupted within him.

Zero had _never_ felt such _things_ before...

_And he wanted more._

Kuran's hands danced across his chest and seemed to touch every sensitive spot he never knew he had. His round nipples seemed to harden, and Zero felt his body blaze. His blood was rushing madly under his skin, and the slow warmth within him transformed into a sweltering infatuation.

Zero whimpered as Kuran's fangs poked and prodded his right earlobe, and so he totally lost himself in all the various newly discovered pleasures he had never felt.

As Zero lost himself, Kaname's hands pulled loosely at Zero's belt. Heedless, Kaname's skillful fingers swiftly picked at the button of Zero's dark slacks. With the hunter's uncovered lower body, Kaname effortlessly stroked Zero's manhood without a shred of shame - relishing in being the first person to ever _do_ so.

_**Pleasure.**_

Unexpected and unnatural _pleasure_ shot up Zero's spine.

"_**...Aha...ah...**_" Zero mindlessly panted. He didn't know what the hell was happening, but for some reason, he didn't care and knew that he **_did not_** want it to _stop_...

Kaname's lips twisted into a dark smile as his slim fingers massaged and squeezed Zero's male organ effortlessly. He allowed his fingers to dance up and down Zero's shaft like a sadistic seducer, and he was rewarded by watching Zero's crimson glaze morph into a blistering passionate yearning.

Kaname's inner self bellowed one word.

_**Claim. **_

Kaname's other hand with its lustful slim fingers dug so _deeply_ into Zero's hip flesh that he knew they would leave a dark-red bruise come tomorrow. Still, as Kaname wrapped an arm around Zero's parted and trembling thighs, he encouraged the man to wrap his legs around his waist. Which amazingly, the usually _so_ stubborn man wordlessly obeyed.

Kaname's dark soul demanded that he _finish_ this.

Sealing his hungry lips against his hunter's, Kaname slipped one long finger into Kiryu's virginal inner channel.

_**Pain. **_

Zero loudly whimpered as he felt Kuran slowly stretch him from the inside.

The _pain_ was _**intense**_.

And thus, Zero's logical consciousness started to stir -

But too soon, a new and unknown **_pleasure_ **overshadowed it.

Kaname's deft fingers sharply pressed against Zero's pleasure spot, and the hunter before him jolted with pleasure.

"_**Kuran**_!" Zero lost his breath. Pleasure shot through him like _uncultivated **electricity**_.

Yet, while the _pain_ was enough to stir his conscious mind, it was _this **pleasure**_ that finally awoken Zero from his unnaturally heated state. As if Zero was mentally shocked by an AED medical machine, Zero's conscious self and mind viciously switched on.

**What.**

The.

_**FUCK.**_

Was.

_**Happening?**_

_Let's do the math..._

Kuran plus Zero times avaricious breathing plus bloody lips divided by unbuttoned slacks equals_...__**what the fuck was happening?**_

_Kuran_...and _he_...weren't just about to _have_...

A dreadful fear engulfed Zero – and he went **_wild_**.

_**NO! **_

Twisting like a madman, Zero tried to get Kuran off him. "I don't want this!" Zero yelled. "I don't want this at all!"

Kuran would not be his first!_ He would not!_ **He would not!**

Kaname glared - utterly _**furious**_ that the ex-human would even _dare_ to stop what _should_ be happening.

_**By darkness, he would not be stopped by the disobedient fool this time! **_

In complete disbelief, Kaname stared him angrily in the eyes. "I gave you my blood, and you would _dare_ to refuse me?" Kaname darkly growled.

Zero was absolutely shocked.

What the _**hell**_ was Kuran _**implying**_?

"Are you trying to tell me that because you offered me your blood, and I drank it...you somehow have the _**right**_ to _**rape**_ _**me**_?" Zero violently hissed.

Kaname was _**most**_ insulted.

"Rape you?" Kaname said in disbelief. "_Rape you?" _He repeated. "How the hell can one rape _the willing_?"

_The willing? _

And with that...something inside Zero violently shattered.

"**Get. Away. From. Me**." Zero tensely ordered. "_**You sick bastard**_."

Oh, Kaname was _not_ happy.

_Not happy at all._

"You can't possibly be serious?" Kaname furiously questioned.

However, Zero showed him how serious he was..._**by punching him squarely in the face.**_

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Ha! On a scale of 1 to 10 how was the citrus? XD This got so _unbelievable_ long that I know I'm not going to do it any time some. Goodness...this was so long that it needed its own chapter! I couldn't really fit it with anything else and have it make sense! XD

After all, I needed to show that Kaname's desire to have Zero/Silver for himself didn't _entirely_ start when he suddenly became Silver. Actually, one could almost say that Silver...well, never mind. XD Such things really don't need to be said. (Though, even during this, Kaname's desire to have Yuki trumped everything! Which is why he still did what he did. My, isn't our pureblood so selfish! *_*.) Anyway, Kaname's and Zero's relationship isn't something that will be quickly explained or simple in this fic. Their relationship so twisty with its various components that their interactions have many different meanings behind them. O_o' I sometimes feel like they could either draw out the best or the worst in each other. So...enjoy the fireworks, my readers. There will to a lot of them.

Anyway, to answer some review questions: Silver/Zero's Doll bonds will be explained more in the upcoming chapters so I really can't say much about them. Also, I too, can't believe I'm at 75 chapters already. O_O' And it will certainly go past 100 chapters. ;_; (This fic was only suppose to be 10 chapters...how on earth did this happened? ;_;')

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! More reviews means faster updates for you! ;D**


	77. Chapter 76 Power, Part IV

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**101 Years Ago **

Weeks have passed and everything in Pureblood Vampire Yuki Cross-Kuran's life had gotten back on track. Everything settled down and, for once is Yuki's life, she wished to do something that was normal and familiar in her weird life.

_Normal_ and _Familiar_.

So...what was more _normal_ and _familiar_ than a teenage girl going back to high school?

Yuki desperately wanted to go back at Cross Academy and finish her schooling (even if she _was_ the **worst** **student** in the world) but, obviously, she would have to return as a new member of Night Class.

Still, it was the best she could get...all things considering.

However, surprisingly, her wonderful brother, Kaname-nissan, agreed to this odd wish of hers. It was probably because Kaname looked...somewhat _wearied_... to her, and so returning to a 'normal' life (at least, least for the time being) was something even he could think of doing.

They all needed a break.

Yuki almost smiled to herself. _It was so ironic._ Yuki would have never thought it would be possible for her to ever think that high school would be _her_ idea of a 'good break' from her hectic life.

Really, life is so strange.

Nevertheless, when learning that the two Kuran purebloods were returning, everyone else in their vampire circle returned to the Cross's Academy like no major events had ever happened.

Life was normal.

All the Day Class students (except for Sayori) had their memories wiped, so Yuki being a Night Class student instead of a Day Class Guardian was something that didn't cross their minds. However, some things were definitely different. For example, it was strange having a lot of the Day Class boys hoot and holler at her as she passed by during the changing of the shifts. Those guys never once blinked an eyelash at her before, so it was really confusing as to why they were doing so now, but she slowly – _ever so slowly_ - she got (somewhat) use to it.

Even so, Yuki struggled through her classes (Goodness, the Night Class was certainly more advance in their studies! They were actually learning master-level sciences and math. Yuki cried bitter tears nightly...she was so out of her league!). She also participated in campus activities (in fact, she was helping putting on a dance night for the school that both the Day-and-Night students could attend). Yuki even went shopping with Sayori, Rima, and Ruka and did things that all normal teenage girls did.

Life was normal.

But then..._not_ quite.

A few nights ago, Kaname had come back to his room with the _ugliest_ and **bitterest** expression she had _ever_ seen on his handsome face. Even though his chest and back was perfectly healed, his pale flesh still had blood stains on it. His white dress shirt was nearly torn into bloody ribbons, and he also seemed to be healing from a smarting but rapidly-healing black-eye.

In a panic, Yuki had asked him what had happened, but he completely ignored her and marched to his private room. Then he barricaded himself in his room all day – refusing to speak to _anyone_, and Yuki wasn't able to get a wink of sleep because of her worry over him.

_Kaname..._

Kaname always pushed people away when he was..._**hurt**_.

Yuki felt like terrible, because even after everything, Kaname dealt with his pain in secret. He always _pushed_ people away.

However, the following night, during the change of classes, Kaname appeared perfectly normal and back to his original self. Still...even while Kaname was back to his handsome gentle self, Yuki felt like she was _missing_ something. _Something_ didn't seem quite right, and even though he _seemed_ fine...something about his blank expression made her a little confused.

It was _too_ blank his expression. _Too blank._

Then, as Kaname and Yuki went out with the Night Class during the change, the pureblood male leveled _Zero Kiryu_ with a glare so _**bitingly **__**vicious**_ that _Yuki's_ heart froze when she saw it.

_What in the world? _

But, amazingly, Zero returned Kaname's evil glare with an equally heated one of his own. Subsequently, without a shred of fear in his stony glaze, Zero flipped Kaname the middle finger with the threatening words, "_Next time, it will be your __**other**__ eye socket, you evil fucker." _

And thus..._chaos reign._

Hanabusa went _wild_. Utterly insulted that some worthless ex-human would openly dare to insult his precious Kaname-sama. Akatsuki and Takuma tried – _but was badly failing_ - to hold him back. Ruka also looked ready to kill Zero as well, but she was held back by Rima and Senri. For some reason, the Day Class students (mostly the male students) were gleefully cheering Zero on, but Seiren leaped out of nowhere to try and do some damage control. But what unnerved Yuki most of all was _Kaname's expression. _

Kaname looked like he wanted to slice Zero up into _a million bloody meat pieces_.

_**NO! **_

Jumping in front of Zero and shielding him with her body, Yuki distraughtly begged Kaname to _spare_ Zero's life. It was the _first time_ she so scared of him. Even while Kaname looked at her like he had never seen her before, Yuki just didn't care.

Zero couldn't die! _He couldn't!_ **He couldn't!**

After all, if he did, what exactly was her painful sacrifice _for,_ then?

It was only when the new young teacher, Kaito Takamiya, came did everything _stop_.

After looking at Yuki for one long moment, Zero promptly left the scene of his crime. The Night Class resumed their daily activities (a few of which were bitterly plotting the ex-human's soon-coming death). Still, after a few more days, the event was forgotten and everything went back to normal.

Well, as _normal_ as it was before.

But, goodness! It seemed like Kaname and Zero resumed their mutually intense dislike for each other with a black vengeance. If anything, for some strange reason, Yuki felt like it had gotten _**worst**_.

_And she had no idea why._

Of _all_ the things to worsen!

Yuki felt torn. She would have thought that if she erased her human existence from Zero's mind, that he would have _lessened_ his dark dislike against Kaname, but that didn't seem to be the case. She also thought that Kaname would have ignored Zero and/or not try to use him or hurt him because she was no longer a part of the hunter's life.

Nothing of the sort.

It seemed like they disliked each other _on principle_ or something. Like how water and fire would never agree or be friends, apparently, Kaname and Zero were destined to never really like each other regardless of her involvement of whatnot. Their hostile relationship was something that was truly based on _them_ and not on any other outside factors.

That understanding really made Yuki extremely sad.

Zero was such a _wonderful_ person. He was such a good, trustworthy, and noble person. Zero always brought out the best in her, so, perhaps if Kaname had him for a friend...,then Kaname _wouldn't_ have been so closed off and lonely.

Zero was really a wonderful, _caring_, _**loving**_...

Yuki crushed her thoughts.

_Don't think that._ She thought to herself. _Don't even start thinking like that, Yuki!_

But still!

Goodness...those two. _Wow_. That little event of theirs pretty much informed Yuki that life had _truly_ gotten back to normal, and that reality had settled in.

**Normal**.

Usual. _Standard_.

Regular. **Common**. Average.

Same old, same old.

**Normal**.

This was Yuki Cross-Kuran's new normal.

_**So why was Yuki thinking the **__**weirdest**__** of thoughts?**_

For the past few nights (more like _weeks, _well_, _actually, it was ever since she erased his memories..._._), Yuki couldn't truly focus and enjoy on her 'break', or her new reality, or on her _new normal_.

_**No. **_

Yuki didn't focus on normalcy, average, or common things... _at all._ Like the daydreaming airhead she sometimes was, strangely, despite all the 'normalness' in her life, Yuki's mind was focused on..._fantastical_ things.

Like wondrous wishes...

Or marvelous dreams...

_Or_..._**or**_... _**fairy tales**_...

Fairy Tales.

On this new night of her 'new reality', Yuki thought about _fairy tales_. Morning would come soon, but she was still awake. _Again_. And perhaps she wouldn't sleep much come the morning either. (Not like she was sleeping well anyway.)

Every time she closed her eyes, she could feel _**his**_ burning firm lips on hers.

_His strong hands holding her tight..._

_His calm and steady scent of sandalwood and lavender swirling her senses..._

_His painful lavender eyes at her __**supposed **__**rejection**__..._

_No._ Yuki heavily sighed. _Don't think about those things, Yuki. _

Still, sleep wasn't something that was really possible for her now and because Yuki didn't think sleep would be coming her way anytime soon so that was probably why Yuki thought of stupid things.

Stupid things.

Stupid, _stupid_ things.

Like _one stupid question,_ in particular, that kept asking itself in her head over and over again. It was the main reason why she sneaked out of the Moon Dorm and wandered over to the campus's large pond to nurture her stupidly sad thoughts.

The strange question that burned in Yuki's mind right now is:Why do fairy tales always have happy endings?

**Why? **

Yuki repeated her odd question to herself as she silently watched the moonlit pond. _Why do fairy tales always have happy endings?_

Every since she was young and even now, Yuki loved fairy tales. Fairy tales had a sort of gentle power in her life. They were things that gave her hope and encouragement in the strangest of ways.

After all, fairy tales always have happy endings.

Always. _Always_. **Always**.

Sleeping Beauty. Snow White. Thumbelina. Rapunzel. Cinderella.

All those fairy tale princesses had _their_ happy endings with their prince.

And she was a pureblood 'princess' now, and she had her pureblood vampire prince brother but...

But Yuki felt... terribly _**raw**_.

During these past few weeks, Yuki felt like her soul was robbed of something _terribly_ important. Like she had ripped off her own arm or, ironically, like she had robbed herself of something that was critically significant to her soul.

But can you really _rob_ yourself?

_Yes_.

Yes, you can.

A princess can..._lose_...her knight.

Lose. Give up. Renounce.

Thus, didn't Yuki rob herself of Zero?

Yuki's heart felt like it was tearing again, and she felt her defeated tears threaten to fall from her eyes again. By darkness, Yuki still felt like she wanted to cry for a _thousand_ years. But she couldn't cry now. _She couldn't!_ So, Yuki desperately _fought_ them.

But like always, they came all the same.

To _never_ hold Zero's strong hand...

To _never_ stare into his caring eyes...

To _never_ feel the touch of Zero's lips ...

By Darkness...why did she have to give up such a wonderful man?

Why? _Why_? _**Why?**_

Yet, Yuki _**made**_ her decision.

She made it, and _now_, she would have to _deal_ with it. Because Yuki made this bitter sacrifice in order for Zero _to live_.

For him to live and be happy, _**and**_ for him to finally be _safe _from darkness.

**Darkness. **

Ever since she returned to being a pureblood, Yuki felt a deep darkness within her soul. A darkness so grand and all-consuming that she knew she could paint the sky with the blood of everything she held dear if she let it out.

Yet, being human for so long, she had never expected this terrible understanding, and Yuki was _utterly frightened_ at the discovery. The discovery that she had a wild evil beast hidden in her heart. An evil beast who could bleed, destroy, and murder without the slightest of provocations. An internal monster who could selfishly devour anything and everything in its murderous path. In Yuki's new heart, there was a _darkness_ inside it that Zero could _never_ be safe from and Yuki wasn't sure she was strong enough to fight against it.

And what made it so much worst - _Zero_ was something that her dark beast wished to _totally consume._

Yuki would **not** allow it.

Zero **would not** be _hurt_ or, darkness forbid, _killed..._**because by her.**

Zero had sacrifice _so_ **much** for Yuki already and she would sooner slit her own throat then allow such a travesty to ever happen.

Zero _must_ live.

Zero must live and be happy. Goodness knows that of _all_ the people in the world, Zero deserved true happiness - _a fairy-tale ending _– for his sad life. Zero had gone through _so_ much heartache and _so_ much pain that he, out of everyone she knew, deserved a new start in life.

But Zero _stubbornly_ stayed by her side. He stubbornly kept coming after her.

He fought, he risked, and he always got _hurt_ in order to do so.

**No more. **

No more would Yuki allow him to always get hurt because of her. No more would Yuki allow Zero to sacrifice himself for her.

Even though Zero fought for her all the time, even though Zero did everything in his power to make her safe, even though _Zero loved her with an unspeakable love_...

Yuki knew that Zero's greatest enemy was _**her**_ dark self.

_A pureblood's basest instincts is to devour and destroy, Yuki._ Kaname once told her. _We purebloods can hurt and destroy __**anything**__ because that is the pureblood's core __**nature**__. _

Yuki knew that what Kaname had once told her was the dark truth of the matter.

Yuki's inner vampire wanted to completely _devour_ Zero. It wanted to make him totally hers, and it would stop at nothing to get its way. Yuki tried bitterly fight against this dark impulse to unreservedly _engulf_ the man she urgently loved, but she could feel that with every look, _touch_, and, especially, those _**kisses**_ of his..._she_ was losing to her darker nature.

Yuki was losing – _losing so badly_ – and she knew that one day she would not be able to stop herself.

Yuki knew she would end up hurting Zero if she continued on this dark path.

So, for once in Yuki's stupid life – she decided she _wasn't_ going to lose.

Even if Zero _loved her_...

Even if Zero loved her _with all his heart_...

His love for her would be his _undoing_ and...

_...__**Zero must live.**_

He must live and be _happy_ and be **free**.

And if the cost of that was her eternal misery – it was a _small_ price to pay.

Zero didn't see the danger she was and Yuki was willing to bet that even _if_ she showed him her inner darkness, Zero still wouldn't see it.

Why? Because Zero's real love was such a blinding thing.

But Yuki wasn't blind.

The light of Zero's existence made _her_ see all too clearly. And thus, she swore she would protect the light that was Zero...even if the main threat was from herself.

So Yuki erased Zero's memories of her. She erased them because she _believed_ it was those memories that _**kept**_ Zero coming after her – the memories of her of light (human) self. If they were gone, then it would give him a _second_ chance at life.

Still, Yuki loved Zero.

By night, Yuki loved him so deeply that it _**hurt**_.

_But_...

With Shizuka dead, Yuki's awakening, and his vampire stabilization – Zero _didn't_ need to concern himself with her anymore. He didn't need to always keep getting hurt on her _, this_ was how Yuki decided that she would love him back in return. Zero needed a new chance at life – a second chance for true happiness. She wanted Zero to _finally_ have his happy fairy-tale ending.

So...why _now_ did Yuki wish she could reverse it?

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-Six: Power, Part IV**

* * *

**Present**

Cleaning off his bloody and dusty hands, Sakusei Sukakasi, a Lord of the Criminal Vampire Underground, rapidly blinked his silver eyes as his quick mind raced with new possibilities.

Ah, mental torture. So _effective_ it is. Not only does one gets what one _needs_ from it, but it also gets one what one wants _best_ from it.

But...My, _My_...

Opportunity. _Opportunity_. **Opportunity**.

The high-ranked guard of Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island that Sakusei had just finished killing revealed to him some unexpected new information! Of course, Sakusei gotten want he _originally_ wanted out of him - like his identity, various passwords, prison layout, and power dynamics of the notorious prison. However, he _did not_ expect these latest events.

Apparently, this guard was just informed by one of his on-duty co-workers that there had been a terrible prisoner's riot recently at Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island (SSVPI). With more than twenty prisoners being killed, currently things were not _completely_ under control. The onsite staff of SSVPI were commanding all of their high-ranking prison officers to come back to help clean up this newest mess and the guard he had just killed was one of their top members.

Honestly, what a perfect golden opportunity for Sakusei to achieve his Queen-inspired mission!

This was almost too easy!

_Opportunity is such a glorious mistress! _

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

The King's Right Arm, Lord Takuma Ichijo, leisurely looked down at the beady-eyed and red-faced Japanese Human Prime Minister over his private video phone.

"Do you...know how _much_...that..._request_...is going to cost _my_ country?" The round man squeezed out of his enraged throat. "Over one billion dollars! _One billion dollars_ – a day! **And** you don't know when exactly this shut down request _will end_?"

Takuma felt like rolling his green eyes at the man, but he contained himself. Oh, he knew how to convince this little jerk to do what he asked all right. It wasn't that hard, really. "Well, my dear Prime Minister," Takuma started in a calm even tone. "For every day that everything is closed, I personally promise that we will reimburse your country..._double_...for all your loses."

"_Double_?" The human man loudly gasped. His eyes growing big. "_Double_, you say?"

"Triple, then?" Takuma heedlessly offered.

"_Triple_?" The man repeated. He looked like he was about to _faint,_ and so he quickly sat down. Instantly, his red cheeks of fury returned to a normal color, and he brightly smiled at Takuma.

"Very well then." The Prime Minster of Human Japan happily said. "I will do everything in my power to completely shut down all travel spots and transport ports...immediately."

Takuma nearly sneered.

Ah, the power of money.

Why couldn't it solve everything in his life as easily as it did this?

* * *

_**Simultaneously...**_

Even now, Silver Night could still feel the male stranger's awful caresses on his healing skin.

Like a staving hound dog, whoever that mysterious man was touched and caressed Silver in ways that were _far_ from appropriate or respectful if he had been 'awake'. The strange man who touched him like he intimately _knew_ him smelled like icy stone and Silver's stomach twisted itself into terrible knots as the man seemed to get bolder and _bolder_ by the second.

Perhaps Silver's pretend unconsciousness made the man so bold, or perhaps, the man was naturally _like_ this, but, regardless of all that, Silver's felt _**defiled**_.

Master Kaname had never touched him like this. Like he was just some..._thing_..._**some warm body**_...to be used...

The pureblood man's hands start to unbuttoned his pants and open his shirt, and Silver wanted to viciously claw out his lustful eyes. How dare he? How dare someone who wasn't his master touch him in such ways?

But _uncertainty_ held him back.

Who was this man? What was he like? What powers did he have? Why was he even here?

Questions upon questions violently swarm inside Silver's paniky mind. Therefore, Silver wasn't exactly sure what he could possibly do.

He was helpless. He was unsafe. And he was unprotected. Therefore, even if things were moving too fast and Silver was raped in his 'sleep' – he had no idea how to stop it, or if it was even a good thing for him to stop it. If he stopped it – what would happen to him? Would he be beaten for his refusal? Out-rightly killed? What was his best options?

Silver felt utterly powerless. He had no information about his situation. Therefore, how could he play any tactics or make good plans?

Yet, Lady Luck decided to have mercy on him, and so she intervened.

Another woman who Silver didn't know called out to the mysterious man who was touching him. "Min Chan Kim!" She harshly called out. "There is something that needs your immediate attention!" She coldly barked out. And, in an instant, the man who smelt like stone and ice stopped what he was doing and quickly left him alone.

Once he was sure he was alone, Silver opened his eyes and found himself locked inside a small and relatively empty room. The only furniture in the room was two small and empty bunk-beds and a few basic bed sheets. Near the window side was an extremely small bathroom set that looked more like a closet. Soon, Silver's eyes saw everything there was to see in his new room, and so, now, was the time for him to think over his situation.

It didn't look good.

_I am in a terrible situation._ Silver thought to himself. _I am in an extremely dangerous situation._ From what he could tell, his master's children and himself were kidnapped by some foreign group of his master's enemies.

Silver felt fear and dread _sing_ through his cold veins.

What was he going to do?

_What, by darkness, was he going to do? _

Would Master Kaname come for him? Protect him? _Save him?_

A small hidden part of Silver wished to believe that would be the case but...

_But_...

But _that_ would never happen would it?

What vampire master would risk _their_ lives for a mere Doll's?

Silver knew the answer even if it bitterly hurt him.

**No master would do that. **

No _master_ would ever sacrifice or give of himself or herself for their _slave_. This was the cruel nature of his existence. This was the ultimate truth. No master ever risked harm to themselves for _his_ sake and...

That was probably why Silver was the way he was.

A heartless _destroyer_ and a soulless dark being.

Despite all the sweet whisperings of his past masters into Silver's delicate ears, despite their history and 'love' story, despite their claims of intense love and true affection for him... Silver betrayed his masters.

He always _betrayed_ them to their untimely deaths.

**Every. Single. Time. **

_Why?_ Some might be tempted to ask. _Why did the seemingly perfect slave always betray his master in the end? _

The answer was easy.

It was because the 'perfect slave' was consumed with dark and consuming...wrath.

_**Wrath**__ for his __**enslavement**__. __**Wrath**__ for his __**lost freedom**__. __**Wrath**__ for his __**lost past life.**_

His dark wrath against his masters always _forced_ Silver to do it because...

_Because_...

**Because everything was a **_**lie.**_

His past masters trusted him, because they _owned_ him. They desired him, because they believed they had a _right_ to him. They used him, took from him, and never ever thought about his desires in a true sense. It was why whenever it was time for him to ready his treacherous and deadly knife...he could easily stab their undefeated back.

Silver Night _liked_ destroying his masters. It gave him a sense of accomplishment whenever he destroyed them. To him, his masters were his most hateful enemies, and thus Silver desired to destroy them because everything – their assertions of their love for him, their actions of kindness, their declarations of affection for him – was nothing more than a _**lie**_.

While Silver did not know what true love was and while he had never felt such a pure emotion before during his entire long life, even he knew that true love was not something one could force on another or trap them in.

Lies. Lies. Lies

Masters always lie. And the always hurt him and took from him. They were all the same!

..._Except_...

Except for that _**one**_ old mistress of his.

Silver knew that at least _one_ of his past masters didn't always _lie_ to him.

She was an old noble vampire woman whose gray-silver hair smelt like old ginger and black tea.

A flash of memory. _"I'm so sorry I couldn't free you, Silver." The old woman said tiredly as she laid dying. "I'm so very, very sorry."And he could tell that what she uttered to him was painfully true. _

Silver's heart clenched at the painful memory.

Even now, Silver could remember that old woman's natural scent of old ginger and black tea. He could remember those oddly familiar scents because they always triggered half-positive feelings and unremembered terrible dreams inside him.

But he...ended up losing her... by his _own_ bloody hands.

Something inside Silver terribly twisted, and he felt...empty...once again.

By his own bloody hands did he always destroy.

All bad things being with the letter D, don't they?

Doll.

Darkness.

Disaster.

Demolisher.

Destroyer.

These words described everything Silver truly was and is.

Thus, wouldn't have Master Kaname...have ended up...just like her..._just like all of them_..._**eventually**_?

Probably.

And for a moment, Silver felt wholly broken.

In spite of this, this _wasn't_ the time for Silver to feel _sorry_ for himself. No, it certainly wasn't. If nothing else, Silver wasn't in this terrible situation _alone_.

Haruka and Juri were in this as well.

Those children...his master's children...were the first two people to see and innocently treat him as a free person _first_ rather than as a disposable thing without Silver trying to truly manipulate them into doing so.

Silver did not manipulate them into doing it, but those children _still_ treated him..._kindly._

Kindly.

It was a first.

_I must protect them then._ Silver thought to himself. _I must protect at least them._

A destroyer or not, complete or not, and cruel or not, Silver wanted to do right by those innocent children.

Silver wanted to do right and be good.

Couldn't he do at least this?

Couldn't a heartless destroyer become a _**noble**_ _**defender**_ at least _once_ in his life?

He could.

_So, he would. _

Silver _**swore**_ to himself that he would **protect Haruka and Juri** as best he could in this.

He might not be able to do much, there were some awful things he could prevent from happening to them. He could even try to create a plan where they could escape and go back him, but at the very least he could -

Suddenly, without the slightest bit of warning, Silver's heart _**brutally tightened.**_

The pain across his chest felt like a million-ton elephant was callously sitting upon his chest and crushing the air out of his lungs. He could not _breath,_ and his eyes suddenly couldn't see a thing. Silver's ears started to violently ring and underneath Silver's pale skin every single nerve ferociously burned with a hellish delight. Silver started to heavily sweat but his soul knew _exactly_ what was happening.

Even if he _wanted_ to scream, Silver knew that he couldn't.

_**This pain...**_

This horrifying, terrifying _pain_...

In a minute from now, Silver would be _**dead**_.

_**Stone cold dead.**_

_45 Seconds..._

How sadly amazing this was!

How darkly ironic!

Silver felt this sinister sensation only _once_ before, and he immediately recognized why he was feeling these terrible tortures _now_.

_**Doll Termination. **_

Silver's Doll Termination Spell activated itself.

Either Master Kaname had triggered it, _or_ he was too far from Master Kaname's presence. This evil enhancement not only caused his swift death, but it also prevented him from being beyond fifty miles of his master's reach without his master's expressed approval. Silver had no idea that he had gotten so far away from him, yet, either way, the accursed spell was activated.

_30 Seconds..._

Silver Night felt like rancorously laughing at his terribly ironic fate.

The _one_ time he decides to do something **noble** and something **good...**like _protecting_ _innocent children_...he finally meets his own doom.

Isn't that so funny?

_**15 Seconds...**_

_Haruka and Juri..._Silver blindly thought. _I'm so sorry. I'm so very, __**very**__ sorry that I will not be here to protect the two of you._

_**10 Seconds...**_

After _everything_ he has been through, after _everything_ he has done, _this_ was **not** how he envisioned his final death.

Silver felt like crying.

He never accomplished his one sole wish.

He was never going to die as a _complete_ _person_, now, would he?

_**5 Seconds... **_

_True self, _Silver last thought._ Perhaps, it is __**this**__ that will achieve your dream?_ _With everything I have done in the past, isn't __**Hell**__ waiting for both of us? _

He could even see the _**fire**_...

_**3, 2, and...**_

"**STOP**."

_**And everything stopped. **_

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N:** Ah...soooo, no KxZ lemon in this chapter. XD Just a death of an important character! (Dodges a too fast flaming tomato.) Just kidding, ya'll! Just kidding...or maybe not yet? _Hmmmm_. (Dodges a second flaming tomato! Yippee for exercise! ;D)

Seriously, though, Kaname was _**not**_ Zero's first (though he was pretty darn close! X3), Yuki and Zero were each other's first in this fic! And I'm sticking to that plot point like duck-tape! ;D Now, before I'm stoned with some more tasty tomatoes by the Marvelous Majority (aka KanamexZero/Silver fans XD), I have to say this...last chapter wasn't the lemon (well it wasn't a lemon...it was actually supposed to be a _mild_ citrus...that somehow got turned into an intense lime...wow, I'm rambling) I originally had in store for you guys. To me, a citrus, lime, and lemon 'events' are three completely different things/stages. So, you guys still have two more full-blown lemons to look forward to in the upcoming plotline. XD Take that how you will! :D However, because the two up-coming lemons were relatively 'far' in this current story line/arc, I thought this relatively 'junior' plot/character development link with its corresponding lime would be enough to hold you guys over for next block of chapters.

Which... coming to think about it...will be extremely...dark and intense...for all involved. O_O You have all been forewarned!

On another note, for the Mighty Minority Fans (aka ZeroxYuki fans XD), you guys will also have your citrus and possibly lime moments as well! :D Some of those stages/events/scenes are also being outlined as we speak! XD So, hold on to your hats, everybody!

_**Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! More reviews mean faster updates for you! ;D**_


	78. Chapter 77 Power, Part V

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**101 Year Ago**

As he stormed through Cross Academy's forest for his last night rounds, to say that Zero Kiryu, ex-human vampire hunter, was ..._upset_...would be a great understatement.

The silver-haired hunter could not even describe how _**pissed the fuck off**_ he'd been in the past few days after that _**detestable**_ _**moment**_ with that pureblooded bastard.

_**Kuran**_...

That freaking... _conceited_... **egoistical**... pureblood ... **rapist**..._evil_..._**bastard!**_

Zero was _so_ angry that he felt like ripping off the bastard's arms every time he saw him! He felt like beheading the evil prick! He felt like burning him alive or hitting him with a speeding car or stabbing him repeatedly with a knife...or _anything_ that would ensure that Kuran die the _**most painful death possible. **_

Nothing in his relatively normal life was _normal_ after what had happened between them!

And this was all that evil bastard's fault!

Even after Zero had _warned_ him about his _weakened_ state and _tried_ to _push him away_, Kuran had acted like Zero _**owed**_ his stupid ass for something that Zero didn't even want in the first place! Even _remembering_ some of the words that evil prick had said to him enraged Zero to the point of seeing _**red**_.

_**Flash!**__ "I gave you my blood, and you would __dare__ to refuse me?" Kuran darkly growled. _

What. _the_. **hell?**

So _what_ if Kuran gave him some blood? (Which Zero did not want _at all_ in the first place!) _So freaking what? _ How dare the prick think that just because Zero took (_**unwilling**_, he might add) some of his blood that thus Zero was _obligated_ to give him **his body** _in return?_

No means _no_!

No wonder a lot of women thought all men were horny assholes that were just after them for sex! Just because someone gives you a freaking 'meal' does not mean they suddenly got the admission ticket to your private amusement park!

_The hell?_

No decent person expects someone to 'put out' just because of a small act of 'kindness'! Where the hell did Kuran get to thinking that he got the right to..._have his way with him_...when Zero _clearly_ didn't want his 'favor' in the first place?

By the sword! If Zero had _any_ inkling that Kuran wanted such a thing...and in exchange for his blood...

Oh, how Zero _wished_ he had _just pulled the trigger_ and thus prevented all of this!

Stopping his merciless nighttime round march, Zero massaged his aching forehead as he glared at an innocent tree. For some reason, the tree seemed to wither at his icy gaze.

_Stupid tree!_ Zero thought angrily to himself. _Stupid tree that just...stands__** there**__...being a __**tree**__...with its __**green**__ leaves! _

Zero heavily sighed.

By Sword's Oath, he'd been out of sorts ever since that..._event_...happened.

Nevertheless, when Zero had 'awaken' from his heated (and crazy and _insane_ and _**stupid**_) mental state, he quickly realized what was truly happening between him and Kuran. It wasn't like it was _hard,_ and the _two_ seconds that it took for Zero's brain to finally figure out his dire situation – he completely lost it.

Like an enraged (and fearful) wild white tiger, Zero did _every_ vicious assault he could think of on Kuran's undefeated body in order for him to _get away_. Every move that his great hunter instructor Toga had ever taught him was put into practice at that moment! Zero's fingernails practically morphed in claws, and he viciously torn into every exposed piece of Kuran's flesh. He punched him in the face and kicked him in the groin! He even tried to claw out his to-be-rapist's eyes!

Naturally, Kuran tried to defend himself, but whatever..._mood_...that was between them when up in flames. After a few moments of trying to hold him back and defend himself, Kuran hatefully let him go.

Breathing heavily, Zero was deeply _pleased_ to see that Kuran had more than enough bloody wounds on his skin because of his defensive actions, but before Kuran left him, he left Zero with a few detestable yet promising words. "_I will __**never**__ ever help you again, Kiryu."_ And thus he disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Like Zero even gave a flying _fuck_ about his 'help'!

Zero didn't need or _want_ or _**desire**_ his 'help' in the first place! _**And**_ if getting Kuran's brand of 'help' required him to give up something that he highly valued (i.e. his body) to him, then Zero would sooner become a celibate monk and live the rest of his isolated life in the Aokigahara Forest!

What an evil and foul dirt-bag!

Still, a slightly injured but completely infuriated Zero blindly retreated into his Day dorm room to clean up and regroup his thoughts (and perhaps plot numerous ways of revenge for his insulted pride). Life went on, and everything became normal. (Minus a few deadly threats and evil glares here and there during changing times.)

Unfortunately, because of this _**terrible incident**_, Zero wasn't able to sleep a _wink_ these past few days.

Which, as one could imagine, his lack of sleep made Zero _extremely irritated_ and even _more_ difficult to be around. (As of now, Cross had bursted into tears in front of him four times. Kaito thought he was morphing into a menstruating girl: "_How long are you going to be on your rag, you ugly punk?_" Kaito once insulting commented. Instructor Toga just shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and decided to completely ignored him. And all the Day Class students kept an even _larger_ distance from him than usual.)

Still, Zero couldn't sleep.

He couldn't.

_**He couldn't! **_

_Why? _

Well, Zero knew the answer and that answer utterly _frightened_ him.

Every time Zero tried to close his weary sleepy eyes, his pale lips hungrily remembered being _devoured_ by another pair of dark ones.

_By the Sword of Blood! _

Zero was utterly disgusted with himself.

Even now, Zero's body could still remember the feeling of Kuran's teasing hands dance on his skin and his hot tongue exploring his opened lips. Zero could recall the taste of Kuran's fresh blood saturating his mouth and he could remember the pureblood's fingers naughtily massaging the private sensitive centers of Zero's body - created salubrious sensations that Zero had _never_ felt before in his _entire_ life.

Zero snarled.

Damn Kuran!

Damn him! _Damn him!_ **Damn him to Hell!**

That evil bastard had awakened something within him that Zero was desperately trying to put back to sleep...but was _terribly_ _**failing**_ at doing so.

Zero snarled again.

There had to be an explanation for this! There had to be a logical explanation for all of this!

Throughout his many lessons with Toga, Zero knew that vampires were something like _pleasure fiends_. While humans were somewhat restricted (with good reason) in their pleasurable endeavors and commonly looked down on all those that only sought pleasure for pleasure's sake, vampire were completely different in that regard.

Pleasure was not something that was seen as a 'gift' like humankind viewed it. Vampires viewed pleasure as a 'right'. As something that they had a right to take, capture, and indulgence frequently in without any type of remorse or guilt. These beasts of the night were true hedonists in every dark sense of the word and Zero despised them even more because of it!

Yet, as much as Zero hated and denied it, he knew he needed to accept the fact that he could become something like..._them_. To become a creature so consumed by the search for _pleasure_ that he could _**lose**_ himself. It was something that Zero greatly _detested_ about his new nature. His self-control and self-discipline were his greatest asset and was the hallmark of his cool personality. So to think that Zero could easily destroy such hard-won habits so _easily_ for a _brief_ moment of pleasure...was _very_ _**disheartening**_.

By Sword's Blood! Would Zero have to go back to the basics? How much training would Zero have to go under in order to end these new wicked yearnings within him? Because to destroy these new yearnings was a must! Zero would not allow that..._event_...to change him and his ways!

Still, it surprised Zero _greatly_ that he had..._responded_...so rapidly to Kuran's horrible (passionate) carnal caresses. If nothing else, Zero wasn't a person who could deceive himself, so Zero had to admit to himself that he had..._some_...fault in all this.

Perhaps if Zero had _pushed_ Kuran away, _slapped_ him, or _something,_ to that effect, then their..._event_...wouldn't have gotten so far. Nonetheless, Zero grudgingly came to the conclusion that the reason why he had gotten so lost in Kuran's surprising actions was probably because he had _**never**_ felt such terrible (wonderful) sensations before.

_**Never**_.

Goodness...that was probably _why_ Kuran's exploit haunted him _far_ after the fact.

Kuran's actions...Kuran's touches...Kuran's darken eyes fill with sinful lust as he stared into his...

He had _never_ felt such sensations before.

Zero _shivered_.

**This was terrible. **

Perhaps if he wasn't so... _inexperience_...with such things, he wouldn't have reacted so strongly, would he? After all, it was a little-known fact that Zero was a..._virginal __**male**__ teenager._

_Yep. _

Zero Kiryu, eighteen-almost-nineteen year old teenage ex-human vampire hunter, at this present moment in time, was a _**virgin**_.

And the world _**mocked**_.

Zero rubbed his throbbing temple in abject shame. This was probably why he _couldn't_ forget! Kuran was the _first_ person that Zero had ever been so close to...and so his body wouldn't...

Zero sighed.

Stupid double standard!

Why is it that when a teen girl is a virgin, she'll get a slight nod of approval, but if a teen _guy_ is one, everyone starts to wonder what's **wrong** with him?

Stupid double standards!

Stupid! _Stupid!_ **Stupid!**

Male virginity...why is it so viciously mock so?

Even so, Zero wasn't defensive about his lack of bedroom experience. However, that was probably because he knew most people wouldn't think to bring up such a topic around him. In fact, it wasn't something that was brought up around him _at all._ After all, with his suppose good looks, most people probably assumed that he was some type of Undercover Casanova Bed Hopper type or something of that sort. It wasn't like there _weren't_ people who hadn't _offered_ to..._hedge his flower_...so to speak in the past.

Still, a guy _this_ handsome to be a virgin at his age?

Ha!

People would probably _die_ of shock if they actually knew of it.

Nevertheless, sex wasn't something that Zero was _overly_ obsessive with. Sure, he thought about it from time to time (like all other normal red-blooded and living men!), but Zero wasn't really the type of pathetic fool who got his self-esteem from bedding each and every woman who crossed his path. In fact, being such a private person, Zero just wasn't someone who could just _hop_ into bed with some unknown girl just because he could. (But it wasn't like the idea had never crossed his mind before...)

Still, Zero had _standards_ after all. He wanted his..._first time_...to be with someone he really liked.

Someone who was special to him.

A special someone who...

..._**Zero did not have. **_

Without warning, an _aching_ _**loneliness**_ and a _throbbing_ _**emptiness**_ formed inside Zero's heart.

Zero **did not** have a special someone. _No_. No, that wasn't quite right. Zero felt like he _once_ had a _special someone_ but...

_But_...

But that person was...no longer here?

Zero felt another confusing and extremely painful sensation, and he decided to quickly put that strange emotion out of his mind.

_Still_...

He focused on something that was familiar to him, and a familiar sensation for him was..._**hatred**_.

_Hatred for one person in particular._

_**Kuran... **_

It was all _his_ fault!

Zero's confusion! Zero's lack of sleep! Perhaps even that brief pain of lost...was probably all Kuran's fault!

Stupid freaking evil pureblood vampire prick bastard!

Before all this, Zero had _no_ idea that he could be _turned on_ by a man's touch and that new knowledge was a bit..._off-setting_...to him. And because of Kuran's unexpected actions, Zero had a _minor_ crisis over his seemingly rock-solid sexuality.

Goodness! How in the world could a pureblood _**male**_ vampire turn him on like that?

So, for a while, Zero's soul _**sobbed**_.

And thousands of new questions about his supposed straight-forward sexuality assaulted and confused him.

How on earth was this _**possible**_? Was he gay? And since _when_ had he been gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that being gay if that is what floated your boat, but still...really?

Like _really_ really?

Hadn't _all_ of Zero's... nightly male dreams..._involved_...**prized** parts of the female anatomy? Zero could not remember having _one_ homoerotic fantasy in his life. _Not one._ So, this _entire situation _completely caught him off guard.

Nevertheless, such surprising personal questions about his newfound self-knowledge were put to rest the following morning after seeing a... nice set pair... on some unknown Day Class girl in class D-6. Once he saw _those_ things, and he noted his _internal_ reaction to them, Zero's sudden questions about his current sexuality was firmly answered and settled.

Ah, women...with their glorious _glorious_ breasts! (Also known in the male world as boobies, tatas, melons, lady lumps, hooters, the rack, or knockers. And in the female world as 'the girls' or 'the twins', respectively.)

_Ah._

To Zero – female breasts were _still_ the twin gatekeepers to a his (future) sexy-time heaven. (_What?_ He was still a _**man**_, even if a virginal one, after all!)

_Ahem_.

After confirming that, yes, indeed, Zero preferred women (greatly), he was _still_ slightly disturbed over his physical reactions to Kuran. Still, even _imagining_ another male person doing what Kuran did to him recently...made his stomach sort of queasy. Even though Zero now knew that he could be turned on by a man's..._heated_...touch, Zero had _no attraction_ to any other male on this campus.

Kaito Takamiya– Ha! Even the very **idea** was disturbing.

Takuma Ichijo– Just..._no_.

Hanabusa Aido – when Hell held a Snowman's Competition.

Senri Shiki– Thumbs down.

Akatsuki Kain – Naw.

But _Kuran_...

_**Well**_...

After Zero had looked at all his male 'peers', he came to the conclusion that it wasn't men in general he was attractive to...but...a _man..._in particular.

So...what's the consensus?

Zero greatly (so _very_ greatly) preferred women (with their wonderful boobies!), but apparently there were men (like a will-not-be-named pureblood) in the world that could turn him on.

**Yeah. **

Zero felt like he had a big problem!

A very _big_ problem!

A very, _very_ **big** problem!

After all, the... _man_... who could turn him on was none other than...Pureblood Vampire _Kaname Kuran._

If the _man_ was anyone else, Zero wouldn't feel so disturbed as he was now! Like say...Zero don't know...perhaps...Kain? Yes, Kain was a _far_ better choice for Zero to figure out that he could be attracted to men then _**freaking Kuran**_, right?

_**Right?**_

But Zero responded so..._fast_...to _Kuran_...

Zero felt so many emotions. For one, he nearly felt like fainting with the very thought. For another, he felt like dying of shame.

How was this possible?

How? _How?_ **How?**

And – _why_?

It was all types of wrong! Clearly, Kuran used some...some special vampire magic thingy power...or _something_ on him!

Perhaps that was why Zero's fingers ached to run his fingers through his medium-length dark locs...

Perhaps that was why Zero's tongue wondered what other parts of his flesh tasted like...

Perhaps that was why Zero could feel him every time he closed his eyes...

Perhaps that was why Zero's heart raced whenever his eyes flashed...

_This was completely unacceptable. _

Unacceptable! _Unacceptable!_ **Unacceptable!**

Zero would not give in.

**He. Would. Not. Give. In.**

Or yield.

Or surrender.

_**To a Kuran. **_

Zero heavily sighed and took in a large deep breath to calm himself.

Honestly, Zero really needed to just –

And then Zero smelt it.

The light scent of salt water. Instantly, Zero knew what that scent meant.

_Tears. _

Someone was crying.

* * *

**Chapter Seventy–Seven: Power, Part V**

* * *

**Present **

"_**STOP." **_

_**And everything stopped. **_

The intense pain in his chest. His excruciating breathing. The ringing in Silver's ears. The burning pain underneath his skin.

_Everything had stopped. _

Breathing heavily, Silver's body was violently trembling.

He had been _so_ close...

_...So close to...__**his death**__..._

_But..._

But..._Master Kaname..._ deactivated his Doll Termination Spell.

Silver could almost feel the man's presence near him now, but too soon, that feeling disappeared as Silver struggled to calm himself.

With _**one**_ word...Silver Night was saved.

Still, he felt..._utterly conflicted_...because of this.

On the one hand, Silver would not be dying anytime soon, but on the other hand...

_Peace eluded him yet again. _

By night, Silver didn't even know _why_ he suddenly felt like _crying_.

Yes, he would _live_, but...

The cruel activation of his Doll Termination Enchantment combined with his master's previous use of his Submission Bond Spell (~"_Do not watch my divorce proceeding on the TV".~)_ remanded Silver of _one_ basic fact of his pitiless existence.

He was _still_ a Doll.

He was _still_ the Doll of his Master Kaname.

Silver Night was still..._The King's Doll_.

As the world storm of feelings inside Silver's heart froze him, he could still feel his enslavement spell bonds of his master on him despite their great distance.

Yes, Master Kaname stopped his unexpected termination – his death – but...

But what did this unusual act mean? Did it really mean anything at all in the long run?

**It didn't matter. **

It didn't matter at all because no matter what happened...Silver would still end up being a enslaved uncompleted soul.

Strangely, this event...his almost death..._awaken his __**previous persona**__._

_I've been thinking __**stupid**__ things._ Silver thought to himself. _I've been trying to do things that I'm not supposed to be or do. _

**What was he suppose to be doing? **_**What were his original orders?**_

Like it was hiding in wait, his other self's inner voice commanded Silver once again._** Survive. **_The small voice ordered. _**Survive**_.

_Ah._

Survive. _Not protect_. But _**survive**_.

And Silver became who he once was _before_ Master Kaname.

* * *

_**Meanwhile**_**...**

The Emergency Far Eastern Inner Circle Council meeting was over.

Everyone had left to go to their assigned tasks and so the Royal Far Eastern Couple were finally alone together in one room after a year of bitter separation.

However, even as they were currently united in one mission, husband and wife were chillingly separated from each other and lost in their deeply personal and increasingly conflicting thoughts.

Queen Yuki Kuran mildly wondered what color her husband's blood would be if she were to rip off one of his arms or slice his pale throat.

Would it be a bright ruby hue? Or perhaps it would be a dark crimson shade? Or maybe it would be a mild garnet tone?

_It will be a delicious burgundy tint._ Her inner monster voices said. _A delicious deep burgundy tint, Yuki. _The voices repeated again.

_Wow_. Yuki realized that she was getting _somewhat_ crazy. Or off-balance. Or off her rocker.

Which was _bad_ - **dangerous**.

And so terribly, _terribly_ _**sad**_.

Yuki massaged her aching head.

The visions of her hundreds of searching raven familiars were giving her a mild headache that was started near the base of her neck. However, now, her mild headache was slowly traveling towards the side of her temples, and if it reached her forehead, Yuki knew she would have to stop this method of searching and rest after a while. This developed power of hers was extremely useful, but it was also something that was mentally consuming...and Yuki was _not_ a person that had her mind fully right at this moment.

In fact, it was getting very hard to think logical or _calmly_ or _**practically**_. Actually, it was getting _extremely_ hard to even think in _full_ sentences.

Her inner voices were getting _**too loud**_...

All her thoughts felt broken and _twisted_ and **disturbed**...

But, in all truth, this entire situation wasn't something Yuki had been expecting.

_Not at all. _

If you were to tell Yuki a mere week ago that she would be _willing working_ with the **deceitful** **tyrant bastard** who murdered her late true-love mate – she would have laughed in your face and possibly sliced off your stupid head for the great insult.

_Whoa_.

And _wow_.

Yuki's thoughts were getting more and _more_ violent.

This wasn't good.

Her disease of madness can't be starting up again.

_**It can't. **_

But wasn't her _**madness**_ her true power?

_**Yes, no, maybe so...**_

_No, Yuki._ Another voice said. But unlike the other mad and violent voices in Yuki's mind, this voice was calm and steady.

Calm and steady.

Like Zero always was...

_Heh. _

It even _sounded_ like Zero..._sometimes_...

_Stop, Yuki. _The sole kind voice inside her mind comforted her. _Stop and think rationally._

By darkness, this voice comforted her like _Zero_ would have if he was _here..._ but he wasn't, and he'll _never_ _be..._ because the demon who took him away and killed him... was sitting right next to her... and she couldn't just reach right on over and slice his pale throat with its deceptively evil mouth because... her children – _her precious children_ – needed... _both_... their parents... if they were going to be saved.

Yuki felt the few logical pieces of her sanity break off even further.

_Breath, Yuki!_ Her inner Zero-like voice demanded. _Take a deep breath in and breath! Steady yourself._

Yuki tried that.

In.

Out.

_In. _

_Out. _

**In. **

**Out. **

Thank you, voice-that-wasn't-Zero-but-sounded-just-like-him-i f-he-was-here!

She was slightly _steady_ now.

_For now._

Still, Yuki needed to be able to logically focus and critically think things through because her _children's_ _lives_ hung in the balance. Kidnap royal victims, in general, have a _**very low**_ survivability rate and, by darkness, her two precious children could very well be undergoing vicious torture - _or even be stone-cold dead_ - as she sat here and nursed violent thoughts against her vile husband who pretty much thought of her as nothing more than _a lost and mad dog _that needed to be controlled and returned to its proper place.

Yuki's vision flashed a murderous red.

But the red that engulfed her tunnel vision was gone as quickly as it came.

_**No**_**. **

She would _not_ go mad.

This time.

And she would _find_ her children.

Because if she didn't..._if she couldn't_...if Haruka or Juri were taken from her...

Yuki knew she wouldn't be able to handle it.

Just like Yuki didn't truly handle the loss of her dear Zero _and_...their unborn child..._and_ it was all her fault.

_**All her fault. **_

Everything was Yuki's fault. Everything happened because of Yuki's foolishness mistakes and stupid good intentions and..._and_...

Somewhat annoyed that they were being ignored, Yuki's inner voices grew bolder. _**You will lose them just like you lost them.**_ Her inner demon voices whispered to her. _**You will lose them just like you lost them.**_

_No._

And _No_!

_I will find and save Haruka and Juri. I don't care what it will cost!_ Yuki thought to herself_. I will find them this time. __**This time.**__**This time.**_

_Why? _Because those two were the _only_ bright lights she had left in her dark, twisting, and mad _mad_ world. They were the only things that kept her _somewhat_ sane, despite the numerous mad voices that rarely went to sleep in her head now.

Even with this revelation, Yuki knew that the tension inside her had only increased. Her heart felt like it had become the bass drum of a wicked tribal beat, and her pulses were throbbing with each strike. So, Yuki repeated a chant to herself in order to refocus her deadened mind and wilting soul.

She must find her children.

Cut. _Slice_. Split.

_She must find her children. _

_Hunt_. Kill. **Murder**.

**She must find her children. **

Red. _Red_. **Red**.

Because if Yuki did not..._find them_...she would make sure the _entire_ **world**... _**bled**_ and _**burned**_ for it.

Unknown to the slowly maddening Queen, her husband was equally outraged with all these various events.

In truth, King Kaname Kuran still felt like _burning_ the entire world to the ashes. His black rage over what had recently happened nearly _consumed_ him.

His precious Juri and heir Haruka was _**stolen**_ from him by his enemies.

_Who dared to harm __**his children**__? _

**Who dared? **

When Kaname finally found them...he was going to take great pleasure in _ripping them into bloody pieces._

Still, Kaname could lock away his frightening revengeful wrath and focus on finding solutions to his newest problems. Thus, Kaname assigned each of his inner circle members with their particular tasks and had promptly dismissed them from his presence. He was just waiting for Senri to finish setting up so that he could have his mini-press conference.

Kaname knew he needed to give a quick public announcement that would calm down his present subjects. Apparently, the fear and dread of the hotel's inhabitants were so thick that one could cut the tension with a butter knife, thus Kaname needed to calm down their fears and assure them that everything was under control. No need to frighten the crowd. A frighten crowd could easily turn into a hellish mob, and Kaname did not _need_ that to happen now.

Afterwards, he was _free_ to hunt down those rebellious bastards.

And make them suffer..._**tremendously**_.

So, Kaname patiently waited.

Nevertheless, the only person who was with him now in the lonely little conference room was his silent dear wife.

The two pureblood monarchs had said nothing to each other, despite the fact that they were finally alone together after all this time.

This may or may not be a good thing.

Expressionless, Kaname looked at his wife. She had calmed down significantly from her unleashed fury earlier, but her mildly stony expression did not reveal any of her current thoughts.

_My, my._

How things changed.

Long ago, Kaname would have been able to _read_ her like a book.

In her youth, Yuki pretty much wore her emotions openly and no one could ever be in doubt about how Yuki _viewed_ certain things. The Yuki of old was a passionate, free, and cheerful girl. She always went head-first into everything, and her emotions were so varied and changing that Kaname was _constantly_ _**stimulated**_ by observing her.

But, now, this person beside him was not who he dearly remembered.

This person...for all intents and purposes...was no longer a pure and innocent girl...but a viciously powerful but also a forlornly pureblood woman.

The difference in this change was astonishing.

And in many ways, Kaname was totally amazed at Yuki's personality change. After all, Kaname first fell in love with the pure and innocent girl she once was but was no longer. He loved her _deeply_ as she was even now, but sometimes, Kaname did pine for that bright and happy Yuki from time to time. Still, Kaname could not honestly say that he truly missed that innocent girl of old.

_No_. He really could not.

In a way, it was an awfully selfish thing to think about. And it was equally as confusing. While Kaname sometimes wished for a return of that cheerful spirit of the old her, he greatly abhorred Yuki's youthful nature and first self.

Why?

Because that innocent and pure girl **did not** chose him.

At the end of it all, _**that**_ innocent girl **chose** the blasted knight _**over**_ her prince.

Despite all this time, Kaname could still feel the wound of her betrayal. Even now, something inside Kaname..._darkly ached_.

Once, long ago, Yuki chose another – _Kiryu_ - over him.

And Kaname had _**never**_ been able to _truly forgive_ her for that.

His deep bitterness against her for it was alive..._even now_. But back then, Kaname's bitterness was so all-consuming he was nearly blinded by it. And because of his malicious envious spite, he desired to punish Yuki – and strangely even Kiryu - for their original betrayal.

So, Kaname gleefully destroyed Yuki's 'first choice'.

He did so cheerfully and _happily_ and **joyfully**.

_And if given the chance, he would have done it again._

**Humph**.

_But_...

But... wasn't it... so terribly _ironic_...that Yuki's 'first choice' had now become _his_?

Oh, despite all that was going on, Kaname could not really believe _that_ peculiar change of destiny.

Earlier in the night, Kaname had decided that he was going to reveal to his wife her 'first choice's' living existence. However, he was _also_ going to relish his spiteful chance at forcing her to realize that not only was the silver-haired man she once so dearly loved forever lost to her, but that _what was once solely __**hers**__, was now only __**his**__._

_**Finally. **_

And it was about time.

Kaname's solution to all his past and present problems had _never_ been so clear.

_The wild white tiger knight who constantly disobeyed and fought against him..._

...Was finally conquered and tamed_._

_The pure, trusting, and innocent girl who innocuously betrayed him..._

...Was finally ensnared and secured.

In a way, by having his perfect silver-haired lover, was, perhaps, the best form of _revenge_ he could get against Yuki for all the cruel witch's vile ways.

Yuki once chose another man over him despite _all_ of Kaname's sacrifices. She even went so far as to once have the brazen _nerve_ to carry another man's seed within her womb. Then, when she lost both of them, she went mad for five years and deeply embarrassed him on the world's stage with all her primitive and barbaric actions during that time. (By darkness, even now, he would have to squash some of those rumors about her fragile mental state from time to time because some of the past stories of her mad escapade were so wretched that it would be absolutely _vulgar_ to tell them in _polite_ company.) And then when Kaname finally found it in his _kind_ heart to forgive the traitorous harlot and take his heart back, she turns around - decades later – and demands not only a _divorce_ from him but _**half of his kingdom and power. **_

It was like everything he had ever done for her was _unappreciated_ and _**unacknowledged**_.

And that..._hurts_.

It really _**hurts**_ so much.

Everything he has _ever_ done – all his plots, his schemes, his bloody fights and his terrible battles - everything was to ensure that she – and to an extend their small family unit – was safe, honored, respected, and protected. And, despite this latest crisis, the darken path he had chosen to live by had been _very_ _**successful**_ in this regard.

Long ago, Kaname tried to walk the lighten path and be _noble_ and _**good**_...

And thus he _**lost**_ _**everything**_.

Now, Kaname walked the _darken_ path...

And he _gained_ _**everything**_.

These were the laws of life in this dying fragile world.

The good will _always_ suffer.

And the wicked – and the monstrous – always _**succeed**_.

So, what better way to prevent an even greater evil then becoming the _darkness_ that such evil _fears_?

So, while Kaname loved his wife - his heart - _**dearly**_. He was going to make her _suffer_ for all _her_ self-centered ways.

Thus, his selected path of vengeance would serve her right.

Yuki will never have _her_ Kiryu again.

_**Never. **_

Still, Kaname's plan to reveal to his wife Kiryu's living existence had been viciously stopped in its tracks, because his precious Silver had been _kidnapped_ **as well.**

Kaname's heart squeezed with frustrated fear. By night! Not only his children, but his new love! By Night's Darkness, you win one thing then lose three others!

Kaname _knew_ Silver was taken away from him because the Doll bonds he had with the man informed him that his possession was not _near_ to him. And because of it, the two main Doll Spell bonds came roaring to his consciousness and demanded that he make use of them.

While Dolls had many minor vampire spells woven into them (Most of which made them pleasing to the eyes and useful in the bed), the three main spells were the Submission Blood Bonds, The Master Protection, and Doll Termination enchantments.

However, the two spells that Kaname had to concern himself with now was the Submission Blond Bonds and the Doll Termination spells. While the Submission Blood Bonds Spell could physically force the Doll to do whatever the master wanted, it also informed the master of what type of 'material state' his Doll was presently in. It was a milder form of mother-child vampire bonds, which allowed a vampire mother to know the emotional and physical state of her children. Still, even with such a bond, Kaname couldn't really read Silver's hidden thoughts or know of his emotions per say. Not that he was in doubt to Silver's regards towards him. However, at least the Submission bonds could inform him of his relative location (close, far, gone, etc.) and whether or not he was 'ready for action' to put it in one way.

With this bond, Kaname knew that his love was taken _far_ from him. But at least, Kaname knew Silver was _still_ alive if not close by. That helped calm some of his worries..._somewhat_...for the man.

But that brought up another problem.

Silver's Doll Termination Spell almost was _activated_.

The Doll Termination Spell allowed the master to kill a Doll whenever they desired too. It was a simple spell with fatal consequences. And, usually, the master used it to easily get rid of their Doll when he or she found the Doll next to useless or if the Doll was somehow taken from their presence _without_ their permission.

In general, vampires are a nasty lot, and malicious possessiveness is something that is all too common in their world. If one couldn't have what one wanted, then vampires were the type of dark beings to make sure that _no one else ever will._

But Kaname wasn't such a pathetic fool.

So, he stopped it.

Silver was _**his**_.

_**Nothing**_ would stop him from getting him back alive and safe. _**Absolutely nothing. **_

Yet, Kaname's heart nearly bled when he realized that he had almost _lost_ his precious Silver..._in such a simple way. _

Kaname took in a deep breath to calm himself.

That was _too_ close.

If he had not been paying attention to their bonds...

Kaname sighed.

He would get his love back if it was the last thing he ever did.

Nevertheless, at least one good thing happened because of this scary event.

_50 miles. _

The Doll Termination Spell only self-activated itself if the Doll got more than 50 miles away from the master without the master's expressed permission.

So, Silver was at least 50 miles away from Kaname's current location.

It wasn't _much_ of a clue. But at least Kaname now had a minor idea as to Silver's (and to that extend his children's) presently held location.

Thus, if nothing else, it was clear to Kaname that... _informing_ Yuki of Kiryu's living existence needed to be put..._on hold._

_For now._

He could accomplish his other intentions on another day.

After Kaname found his children and saved his Silver, castigate the evildoers, and secured his power positions, Kaname _still_ wanted to relish the chance at using these events to wholly punish and take back his traitorous wife and get his life back on a peaceful track.

Call him whatever you like - Kaname Kuran was _many_ things.

And a cruel monster of man was just _one_ of the them.

Nevertheless, something _bothered_ him.

Something bothered Kaname deeply.

Kaname knew exactly what he wanted to happen, but...he wasn't entirely sure of what his wife's real reaction could possibly be towards them.

After all, Yuki wasn't what she once was. And with all the previous events...Kaname wasn't exactly sure if he could accurately predict all her possible reactions.

What if Yuki didn't response to his blackmail like he predicted she would? What if Yuki _did_ respond but not in a way that he expected?

It would be in Kaname's best interest to gather data for his later plots.

After all, after this kidnapping crisis, he would have to deal with his _previous_ problems.

_A ruler's work is never done. _

Finally breaking the silence between them, Kaname asked. "After this is over, Yuki, and we save _our_ children, do you intend to go through with your desire for divorce?"

Yuki's dark-brown eyes snapped to him quickly, and she seemed to look for something in his expression. Kaname kept his expression blank, but after the long moment, Yuki lightly answered.

"Yes, Kaname." Yuki said. Her tone didn't even wavier. "_For now_, we are allies." But then she looked at him hard. "But the _second_ I ensure that our children are safe, we will come back to _this_." She softly hissed.

_I see._ Kaname thought. A dark emotion arose within him.

"I don't understand why you are doing this, Yuki." Kaname emotionlessly said. "Haven't I made you happy all this time? Haven't I given you everything you desired?" Kaname grew _vaguely_ angry. "What _reason_ do you have to go against the person who has given you everything?"

_The person who gives you everything?_

Yuki nearly _**lost**_ it.

Honestly, she almost _did_...

**Kaname****.**

**Still.**

_**Doesn't**_**.**

**Get****.**

**It**.

_Kaname still doesn't get it, does he?_ Yuki incredulously thought to herself. She was silent for a long moment at her realization. _He just doesn't understand me. _Her pale hands started to violently shake but she calmed herself. _And he'll probably __**never**__ understand_.

Dark-brown orbs clashed against dark-chocolate irises, but Yuki decided to teach Kaname a judicious message.

"You gave me only what you wanted me to have, Kaname." Yuki quietly said. "But you took from me the one thing – _the one person _– I _ever_ wanted." She quietly whispered. "You murdered my Zero, Kaname. _You murdered him._" Yuki continued to a soft whisper. "And for that - I can _never_ forgive you. You will _not_ get away with it." She promised. "I'll make sure you won't get away with it."

Unexpectedly, something inside Kaname grew tremendously infuriated at her.

And Kaname nearly lost it.

**Yuki.**

**Still.**

_**Doesn't.**_

**Get.**

**It.**

_Yuki still doesn't get it, does she_? Kaname furiously thought. _She understands but she never accepts._ And his comprehending fury that she _still_ held another in her heart – _even after all this time_ – and despite his _countless_ _**bloody**_ _**sacrifices**_ nearly unleashed itself.

_**But**_ Kaname controlled himself.

He _chillingly_ **controlled** himself.

After all, even if Yuki didn't know it yet, Kaname _still_ had all the power cards.

And he would play _one_ of them before the next stage of their newest games began.

So, ever so slowly, Kaname met Yuki's sturdy gaze again, "If I could bring back your Kiryu..." Kaname gradually asked. "Would you still leave me, Yuki?"

**To Be Continued**.

* * *

**A/N**: Eh? What a tricky question, Yuki my girl! How you answer will determine your future...conflicts...with him, you know! ;D And what do _you_, my precious readers, think her answer will be, eh? XD Ah, clashes of point-of-views are always heady to me!

Anyway, I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately, you guys. I've been somewhat...'_apathetic'_...to writing, so the updates have been slow. It's not writer's block, because I know exactly what is going to happen in the upcoming chapters. (Maybe that is why? Some of my future scenes/events actually makes me so depressed. ;_;) Still, it is also probably due to a lot of the craziness in the real world lately that is also depressing to me (SMH). Anyway, sorry for the long stretches with my updates, guys! I'll try to get back in the groove as soon as I can!

_**Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long – I love them all! **_


	79. Chapter 78 Tutorial

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**101 Years Ago **

Zero Kiryu didn't really know why, but the rich scents of fresh ginger and white tea combined with the scents of light salt water assaulted Zero's sensitive nose. He made a swift beeline towards the source of those scents and it was almost like those scents were a lighthouse and he was a lost sea sailor trying to come ashore. Those distinct scents seemed to pull at something inside him and Zero simply allowed the tugging sensations to draw him in. Almost immediately, the young hunter _knew_ who was crying and with that new knowledge...all his previous maddening thoughts about _other_ things fell away.

_**She**_ was _crying_.

Zero was rather amazed at how odd yet so natural it felt for him to know who this _she_ person was.

Kaname Kuran's little sister..._Yuki Kuran_...was crying.

Zero felt very off-balanced.

_**Yuki Kuran...**_

In all honesty, he didn't know much about her. All Zero knew was that she was a pureblood vampire who was related to his almost-rapist jerk evil prick bastard enemy (who Zero was not attracted to at all – _not at all_ – not even in the _**slightest**_ little bit!). Therefore, because of this shared relationship with the despised pureblood-in-question this Yuki person should bee seen as an enemy to him. Not only to him but to all of humankind. She was a beast in human form that Zero vowed to completely destroy. Thus, in a perfect and _normal_ world, Zero would have simply shot an anti-vampire bullet through this female night beast's heart and that should be the end of everything.

_Yep. _

Click. _Click_. _**Boom**_.

And _all_ problems are solved.

_Wow_. Zero felt a little guilty for his casually cruel thoughts.

While this vampire girl was the younger sister of his greatest foe _**and**_ while she still _really_ unnerved him with all her wide-eyed staring at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention _**and**_ because she leaped in front of him to protect him when Zero recklessly insulted the pureblood jerk after their..._event_, Zero couldn't really find it in himself to really summon his usual hatred of vampires, especially _pureblood_ vampires, when he _looked_ at her.

In fact, whenever he looked at her...he felt..._okay_.

_**Okay**_.

Well, that was really the only way he could describe the odd feeling he had whenever he looked at her.

She was..._okay_.

_Okay_ to look at.

_Okay_ to see.

_Okay_ to think about from time to time.

_**Okay**_.

Zero didn't know _why_ she was 'okay' to him. Logic and reason didn't seem to factor into this strange feeling of his. Kuran's little sister was okay to him, and he didn't have the slightest _reason_ why.

In spite of this, _she_, apparently, _wasn't '__**okay'**__._

She wasn't okay because she was _crying_.

And what made this situation so much more 'un-okay' was the fact that Zero was disturbed by it. He was disturbed not only over the fact that she was _crying_, but that her crying made _him_ feel **sad**.

Zero did not like it when girls _**cried**_.

He didn't like it at all!

When girls cry, a man never really knows what to do! Goodness, if there is a problem, shouldn't girls just _solve_ it instead of _crying_ over it? And if the problem involved a person – usually some male jerk – wouldn't a quick punch in the face solve the entire problem? That's what guys did! And it worked so well! So, what good was crying anyway? It's not like it _solves_ anything!

_Stupid girl_...with her _evil_ tears...who made Zero _feel bad_...because he didn't know how he could _stop_ or _solve_ them...

Yuki Kuran _felt_ more than heard the sound of _**his**_ approaching heavy steps.

And because of it, Yuki felt utterly overwhelmed!

Of _all_ the people she should _not_ be seeing right now in her frizzed state, _he_ was the first person on the list!

Still, Yuki felt like she had suddenly become paralyzed, and she couldn't move any of her four limbs. On the other hand, at very least, the tears she was crying immediately stopped, but Yuki couldn't even command her small hands to remove the incriminating evidence of her tears from her face.

By darkness, Yuki didn't know what to do! She didn't know and she -

But like an elegant ghost out of a mysterious pond, _he_ effortlessly appeared before her.

His short silver hair was slightly frazzled, but liberally framed his strikingly handsome face. His tall and lean frame was clothed in the Day Class's brown school uniform and his natural scent of sandalwood and lavender seemed to swallow up all of Yuki's physical senses. However, what drew her in like a pilot on a plane were _his __**eyes**__._

His eyes were like uncorrupted amethysts. Those jewel-like orbs seemed to contain within them a light that could burn anything in its path.

Yuki was _breathless_.

Oh Kami!

**Zero. **

_Zero was here._

_**Zero was here beside her.**_

What in the world was Yuki suppose to do?

The two teenagers looked at each other for one long moment. The male ex-human and the female pureblood – both so utterly different from the other yet for some _terrible_ reason felt a genuine connection towards each other that they could not explain – silently took the other in.

Zero awkwardly stared at Kuran's little sister.

By the Sword of Blood! This _entire_ situation felt completely strange but _very_ familiar. It was _odd,_ but for some reason, it felt so _normal_. Zero felt like he _should_ know why he was feeling this way, but the answers to those unasked internal questions felt like they were missing a key clue.

Goodness! Here he was with Kuran's little sister finally looking _straight_ at him...and Zero did not know what to think or do. He really _didn't know,_ and that made him uncomfortable. He was _so_ uncomfortable by this situation that he did the _first_ thing he usually did when he got 'uncomfortable' in any type of situation.

Zero morphed into a 'big meanie'.

His light purple eyes narrowed as Zero deeply frowned at the young pureblood female. "The Night Class is over, _vampire_." Zero snappily said. His tone heartlessly biting."You shouldn't be out here, so get back to the Moon Dorm!"

Yuki gawked at Zero.

Zero had _never_...

And using such _harsh_ words...with such a _harsh_ tone...

...at her...

Yuki couldn't help it. She started to _cry_ again.

Zero felt like a deer caught in the headlights. _What the hell?_ Immediately, a sense of guilt hit his beating heart. He felt _bad_. Bad for causing Kuran's little sister's crying! Honestly, he was just a young man trying to make his place in the world, so he **did not** need this kind of stress...and _guilt_...and _shame_...and _other_ bad feelings. Zero rubbed his forehead.

"Sorry, Kuran." Zero winced as his sharp tone. His words weren't kind at all. The very word 'Kuran' sounded _vicious_ coming out of him, and the girl seemed to be even more hurt at his use of it.

Yes, she was Kuran, but using her last name to address her like how he would address her brother felt..._wrong_. All kinds of wrong! No, no. It didn't feel right!

She wasn't _Kuran_, but she _was_ a Kuran, if you could get it and so...

_Bah!_

Zero tried again.

"I'm sorry for my harsh tone..." Zero began again and his lips formed his new make-shift address for her before he could truly _think_ about the consequences."...Yuki-san."

_**Yuki-san.**_

Yuki felt strange.

_Zero_...

Zero said _her_ name...

_He said it..._

And even if it was somewhat..._distant_...than how he _use_ to say her real name...

Just hearing her real name upon _his_ lips healed something so raw inside her that she couldn't really breathe again.

So breathless and somewhat reckless, Yuki asked him the one strange question that has been on her mind lately. "_Why do fairy tales always have happy endings, Zero-kun?"_

_What? _Zero's eyes widened with confusion. _What kind of question was that?_ And where in the world did that odd-ball question even come from?

Zero looked at the...rather pitiful pureblood girl...for _another_ moment, but then he shook his head. She looked **so desperate** for an answer...so Zero shrugged his shoulders and decided to just roll with what was happening.

"Why do fairy tales always have happy endings?" Zero repeated Yuki's question slowly. "Well, because they are fairy tales." He calmly answered. "Isn't that how those are suppose to work?"

Yuki stared...wha?

Ignoring her odd expression, Zero lightly nodded his head as he thought more about it. "Fairy tales have happy endings because they are fairy tales. So, they are _suppose_ to end happily." He logically stated. "And who really wants to read a fairy tale with a _sad _ending, Yuki-san?"

Yuki looked at Zero for a long moment. But even as she speechlessly stared at Zero, her lips wanted to form a slight ironic smile. _Goodness_. If one thing could be said about Zero it would be that he was _waaaay_ to level-headed to think about 'pie-in-the-sky' topics.

So, Yuki lightly frowned at him. " _But_..." She looked Zero in the eyes. "But..._real_ life...doesn't always have a _happy_ ending." Yuki quietly said. "And fairy tales should _reflect_ real life so..."

Zero heavily sighed. This was perhaps the first _real_ conversation he ever had with Kuran's little sister and it was _so_ out of the blue that he really didn't know what to think about it. Honestly, he _never_ would have thought something like this would ever happen and thus Zero was really confused as to what he should do. Nevertheless, he decided to point out something crucially important to her about the difference between real life and fairy tales. He was a _logical_ man, so doing that was the best thing he could do.

"In real life..." Zero thought it would be best to just spit it out. "In real life, the _real_ ending is that the characters...well..._people...__**die**_, Yuki-san." He said. "People – good or bad – small or great – hero or villain – everyone _**dies**_ in the end." Zero scratched his head. "And dying has never been a _happy_ thought, you know."

Yuki felt like someone had stabbed her beloved pet rabbit with a pencil.

_Wow_.

Zero really was a _good_ buzz-killer.

But, _strangely_, Yuki's dreadfully depressed mood was quickly slipping away...

Yet before Yuki could reply to what Zero just flippantly said, the handsome hunter shrugged his shoulders again and looked Yuki firmly in the eyes.

Without warning, he gave her a small but kind smile. "But people don't really need to have 'happy endings' to their own personal stories in order to be _truly_ _happy_, Yuki-san."

And Yuki's tired and sad heart suddenly felt very, _very_ _**light**_.

* * *

**Chapter Seventy–Eight: Tutorial **

* * *

**Present**

Sosono felt like _loudly_ cursing.

A human Wadaura Port official just informed the Rebels that **no ship** would be allowed to leave the sea port. The small human gave no real reason or explanation for it, but before Sosono was tempted to slice the man up for this latest problem to her plot, Sosono dismissed him from their presence.

By night, Sosono knew exactly why this was happening.

The Royals were making their move.

Well, damn.

She wanted to get out of this port now. But having suddenly dead humans at a key travel port would _not_ be in their best interest to have right now. _Too much suspicion._ And they needed to get out of Japan with as _little_ fanfare as possible.

But if the Royals came here, before they could _leave_...

To go or not to go...

By darkness, what was she – they - suppose to do?

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

Utterly shocked with the newest revelations just told to him, Top Executive Assistant to the Far Eastern King, Kai Ryunei, looked at the middle-aged pureblood man with saucer-like eyes.

Oh boy!

With _this_ information...surely his Highness would give Kai a promotion or at _least_ a large raise!

By night, who would have ever thought that it was the Korea Night Lord Joon Ho Song and his only son, Goog Song, who were the ones behind the recent human massacre in Korea? The young Goog wasn't too surprising, but Lord Joon Ho Song? Wow! And he seemed like such a kind man too! Almost like a weak human.

Something crazy is always happening in the world!

So, still owl-eyed, the brown-nosed Kai openly stared at the Royal Korean Governor Kim, who had blissfully informed him of this _wonderful_ information.

"On a scale of one to ten, how sure are you that what you are telling me is the exact truth?" Kai asked. Yeah, while Kai was utterly overwhelmed with this newest bit of information, he wasn't a fool who just went with the flow of the things! He needed to be _absolutely_ sure that what the older man was saying was the _exact_ truth. After all, Kai very well knew what could possibly happen to him if he brought his Imperial Majesty _incorrect_ information!

"I'm very sure." Byung Gi harshly bit out. He was slightly annoyed by the fact that his evil lie wasn't immediately believed. "I also have evidence that they wish to rebel against our Highness and usurp the Far Eastern Throne for themselves."

_It just gets better and worst!_ Kai thought as he smacked his forehead.

"By darkness!" Kai's tone of voice was extremely high. "How could they be so foolish?" He wondered out loud, but too soon a greedy gleam entered into his gaze. "I need to bring this information to the king immediately! Please stay here while I go and inform the King!" Kai quickly said as he got up and hurriedly left the make-shift King's office.

Once alone, Byung Gi darkly sighed. He well knew that the King and Queen were in intense talks because of the _kidnapping of their two children_. So, this previous massacre wasn't even on their radar, actually. But by giving the Royals this 'clue', it would at least distract them enough so that the other Korean rebels got out of the country. It was clear to Byung Gi that the vampire public wasn't informed of the kidnapping as of yet, so as he couldn't well blame them for both the massacre and the royal kidnapping.

Byung Gi felt terrible.

Joon Ho and his son were under the impression that they were going to use the original distraction plan (which was for them to blame the Mongolian and Japanese Purebloods for everything), but Byung Gi had pretty much laid the blame solely on them.

By Darkness, Byung Gi's heart felt very heavy.

But what was done can't be undone.

Secretly, Sosono had pointed out to him the main problem with their original plan was the fact that the Mongolian Purebloods were _relatively_ loyal to the Imperial Far Eastern Throne. Also, one couldn't ignore the reality that the Japanese Purebloods were near _extinction_ – so they would be utter _fools_ to give a good reason to speed up their not-so-secret execution dates that were set by King Kuran. Therefore, even if they did blame them, it wouldn't be long until the King and Queen realized they'd been deceived and thus unleash their terrible fury on the deceivers (namely Byung Gi and his family).

However, if Byung Gi could blame the Pureblood Korean Song Clan for the _entire_ mutiny, their deception would be _more_ believable.

So...sacrificing those two individuals was in 'their' best interests.

Byung Gi felt dreadful. In his mind, he clearly remembered the tight embrace Joon Ho gave his young son before they arrived back together at the Imperial Hotel intent on their original distraction plan.

That might be the last embrace those two ever had together.

The governor couldn't say much about the son, but the father was such a kind and low-key man that to do this to him...

Well, Byung Gi _knew_ he would be forever haunted by the guilt.

* * *

_**Concurrently... **_

"_If I could bring back Kiryu...would you still leave me, Yuki?"Kaname slowly asked. _

The second Queen Yuki Kuran heard the question, her mind immediately _froze_.

Her brain felt like it was being _twisted_ and Yuki suddenly felt very, _very_ sick.

For a long moment, Yuki wasn't sure if she _understood_ what Kaname was asking. His words with their _deliberate_ meanings...didn't really make _sense_ to her.

_**If...**_

If.._Kaname_...could...

..._bring_...**back**...

...her _**Zero**_...

...would..._she..._**leave**...Kaname?

She shot up from her seat and whirled towards him. An answer immediately flew off Yuki's pale red lips. "Don't ask me such stupid questions!" Yuki bitterly hissed.

Kaname merely _looked_ at her, and Yuki nearly saw _**red**_.

"You might be overwhelmingly _**powerful**_ Kaname, but not even _you_ can't bring back people from the dead." Yuki pinned Kaname with a frighteningly cold glare. "Don't try to change the subject and stop trying to-"

But Kaname's dark eyes darkly narrowed at her, and Yuki stopped what she was saying. A feeling of intense chilling fear crept down her spine.

_Dangerous._

By night, even despite her hatred for him, Yuki could still feel a deep-rooted fear whenever he got this way.

_Treacherous. _

Kaname's imperturbable dark-brown gaze met hers head on and there was something..._something really strange_...and _**hidden**_ in his smoldering glance that disturbed her.

Yuki couldn't explain this sudden intimidated feeling inside her. She couldn't _logically_ explain what disturbed her heart about this situation, but Yuki suddenly felt like she was on perilous ground.

_Unsafe._

Kaname look intently at her again but his eyes seemed to morph into _twin_ _black holes_.

Quietly, he asked for a second time, "But if Kiryu _did_ come back...if it was in my power for it to be a _possibility_..." Kaname leveled his dark kingly gaze at her. "_Would you still __**leave**__ me, Yuki?_"

A sinister silence descended on husband and wife for a very _long_ moment.

Still, Yuki didn't really know what Kaname was on about. She didn't know and for once in her life..._she just didn't care_. She didn't care for the _meaning_ or the _reason_ why Kaname was asking this cruel and stupid question, and a dark part of her wanted to _**hurt**_ him terribly for _daring_ to ask.

_Zero..._

**Zero was gone. **

He was gone _forever,_ and she felt the consequence of their brutally _broken_ true-love bond **every...single...day** of her tragic life.

So, without thinking anymore about it, Yuki hissed her _spiteful_ answer.

"Without a doubt, Kaname." Yuki icily said. "Without a doubt. _Without a shred of hesitation_. **And without any regrets**."

At once, the black holes that were Kaname's eyes _dimmed_.

And, instantly, Yuki knew he was _implausibly_ _**hurt**_ by what she just said.

_**Good**__. _

And a _vicious_ part inside Yuki's dark soul wanted to _hurt_ him more and _more_ and **more**...

But it would _never_ be _enough_...

She didn't think _hurting_ _him_ would _ever_ be enough.

So Yuki decided to just..._tell him the **stark** truth. _

"_**If**_...if Zero came back...I would take him away and _never_ return." Yuki quietly said. "I would take him far, _far_ away... and we would... live _happily_ ever after." Yuki nearly felt like crying, but she restricted herself.

She would _never_ cry in front of _him_ again.

"Zero has always been _first_ in my heart, Kaname." Yuki continued. "_He was first_." Then Yuki turned her back to Kaname – she didn't want to see his expression – _**she didn't want to see it! **_

But before she left the small room, Yuki wanted to say one more important thing to him."You just can't be compared to _**him**_." And with that, Yuki calmly marched out the conference room quickly heading towards her hotel suite to change her bloody clothing.

* * *

Kaname's heart felt like it had been torn into a thousand bloody pieces.

A thousand, _a million_, **a billion** bloody little pieces.

The clear realization that... _Yuki_...would _choose_ that **man** _over_ him..._**again**_...made him feel like his world had ripped apart, _exploded_, and was _**burning to the ground.**_

_Like his ancient village home..._

_Like his ancient capital city..._

_Like his second lost love..._

It felt so _hard_ – **so very hard** - to breath.

Hurt.

Hurt. _Hurt_. **Hurt**.

_**Hurt.**_

By Night, Kaname felt _completely_ and _utterly_ **shattered**.

Why is it that no one – _absolutely no one_ - made him..._first_?

_**First**_.

It wasn't like Kaname was a _totally_ bad person.

Sure, he did some cruel things, some selfish things, some terrible things...from time to time..._but_...

_But_...

...To forever be...second-class, _second-rate_, **second choice... **

Immediately, Kaname wanted to be _**comforted**_.

He wanted to be _calmed_. He wanted to be _pleased_. He wanted to be _assured_.

At this moment, Kaname wanted to feel _truly_ _loved_.

He wanted to reach out and grab the person who looked at him with sympathetic smoky-plum eyes _despite_ himself.

He wanted the silver-haired person who could reassure him with a small smile and a tender caress in his trembling arms.

He wanted to kiss rose red lips that were _far_ too soft for their own good and that radiated effortless devotion for him against his.

He wanted to experience a loving kiss that would be able to take away all of his fresh and aged pain, all of his new and ancient fears, and all of his original and old hurts. Such a kiss would thoroughly engulf all his woes and send all his pains, fears, and hurts to a place that was far, far away.

..._Silver_...

_**Kaname wanted his Silver. **_

Kaname _desperately_ wanted _his ideal lover __**at his side**_ – _**right now.**_

But... even... _he_...was..._**taken**_... _from_...**him**.

At this moment, Kaname had _no one _beside him.

No wife.

No child.

No love.

_**Nothing**_.

_Nothing_ but...

_Hurt_.

Hurt. _Hurt_. **Hurt**.

_**Hurt.**_

But without warning, a staff member of Shikian Media lightly knocked on the slightly opened conference room door. "The press conference is ready, your highness." The unknown person said. "Everything is ready."

Listlessly, Kaname realized that the burning old pain in his ancient soul was quickly muting itself.

_Ah. _

Something _else_ to focus on...

_**Flash**__! Monster quietly asked."What game will you now play? What will you __**bargain**__ with in __your __**games, Kaname**__?"_

Ah, a ruler must...always play...his games.

And suddenly, the intense pain inside his heart was utterly gone.

Gone. _Gone_. **Gone**.

Kaname stood up and made his way out of the room.

The dark pain inside his soul was _**gone**_ now.

But it was replaced by a low and lively fury..._deep_ _within his veins_...

Something – _someone_ – needed to _pay_ for this.

And they needed to pay..._**dearly**_.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** ;_; I pity the fools who will cross Kaname's path soon. XD Take a wild guess who those suckers are, eh? :)

Anyway, the past flashback line/arc is going to end for now, folks! XD You guys learned a bunch about Kaname's, Yuki's, and Zero's past interactions with each other, and _my_, they will _certainly_ foreshadow all their...up-coming...intense interactions in the future. O_O (Especially Kaname's and Zero's!) Still, the next flashback line/arc will not be starting up again for the next few chapters. (Early sorry for those who really love them! XD)

However, the good news is - the next flashbacks are the long-awaited "How did Zero become Silver" line/arc!

I've given _**huge**_ clues in the past chapters about it and no one has got it quite yet (though..._one_ reviewer was...'somewhat'...near! I won't name who though! ;D), but I'm hoping you guys will still be _quite_ surprised when it happens! XD Nevertheless, that line/arc will happen in at least 3 or 4 chapters I think. :D

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long – makes me write faster for you! ;D **


	80. Chapter 79 Facade

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present **

Gentle Lady Hye Jin Song, wife of Joon Ho Song and mother to Gook Song, blushed a bright-ruby red as she listlessly stumbled out of a small yacht room cabin.

My, _my_, **my**!

_Goodness! _

Honestly, Hye Jin felt like she had just been transformed into a young teenage school girl! Her small pale cheeks felt so _dreadfully_ hot!

My, _my_, **my**!

By darkness, if she was just a _few_ centuries younger (and wasn't married to such a loving and dear man), why she would have just eaten that precious silver-haired young man right up!

_Goodness! _

Hye Jin had never felt so..._girly_...before in her entire life!

Honestly, it was so _strange_ to feel this way after such a _long_ time!

Now, don't get it twisted! Hye Jin was a happily married older woman with a child, for darkness's sakes! Therefore, there was no possible chance that she would become..._a_ _cougar_...in anyway.

_Nope_.

**Not at all. **

She wasn't tempted in the _least_ _**little**_ _**bit**_, she'll tell you!

So...what was her face still _so_ red?

Just remembering her brief exchange with that silver-haired man made her feel like her blush wouldn't end anytime soon!

My, _my_, **my**!

Honestly, this was _embarrassing_! It wasn't like the man purposely _did_ anything! Their brief conversation and interaction couldn't even be five minutes long, but for him to leave so _strong_ of an impression on her in such a _short_ amount of time...

_Well. _

Hye Jin lightly giggled to herself and gently patted her rosy cheeks as she tried to calm down her unusual intense blushing.

_**Memory Flash! **__Before she would check on the two poor royal victims, Lady Hye Jin recklessly decided first that she would check on their unexpected third victim - the unconscious silver-haired man who had been found with the Kuran Princess. _

_Honestly, Hye Jin wished this entire situation was just a bad dream, and that she would wake up from it at any moment!_

_Alas, she was in reality._

_Hye Jin shook her head sadly. _

_Her little Goog was the cause of all this mess. If the boy hadn't run off and had gotten himself involved with these dangerous fools... _

_Hye Jin sighed. She __**hoped**__ no one would get hurt over this. Even though she knew she was in a very dangerous situation, she did not want anyone – rebel, royal, and anyone in-between - to unduly suffer over this. _

_So, without bothering to knock on the door, Lady Hye Jin Song lightly let herself in and – _

_**Time became...slow. **_

_The new light of morning was slowly drifting into the small yacht room, and the sun's early golden rays gently touch every aspect of the room. _

_Nothing in the small cabin was remarkable, but there was a certain...__**feeling**__...in the air. This strange new feeling felt quite unnatural. As if there was a special type of energy and vigor in the world that wasn't commonly felt in everyday happenings. _

_Even though the room was quite ordinary, Hye Jin felt like she had suddenly crossed the line of reality and had come into a very, __**very**__ different place. _

_Hye Jin's heart began to pound as her dark eyes quickly searched the room for her patient, but when her eyes found him..._

_She was left completely __**breathless**__. _

_His bright silver hair fell like a sunlight-kissed waterfall around his well-built and tone body. The plain white shirt he wore was insignificantly torn and revealed slight bits of perfectly soft snow-white skin that sheltered lean pectoral muscles. _

_He was sitting on the cold floor with one leg down and another closely bent to his chest. His moonlight arms seemed to form a small pillow around his raised knee and his wondrously handsome face rested gently on them. His eyes were gently closed, and it seemed as if he was lost dreaming a serene dream._

_Hye Jin stared at the incredibly gorgeous sleeping man for a __**very**__ long moment. _

_**Never have I seen such a handsome man in all my life!**__ Hye Jin Song dazedly thought to herself. __**Never ever!**__ The motherly Song's heart pounded like a mad drum, and she continued to shamelessly gawk at him..._

_It took a while for her to realize what she was doing and a small sense of shame immediately hit her. _

_**He's sleeping, so I have to go. **__Hye Jin thought quickly. __**I must go because – **_

_But because she could even think to do that the extraordinarily handsome man...suddenly __**opened his eyes.**_

_Hye Jin felt...__**faint**__. _

_His eyes were like gray amethysts – the rarest of fine jewels – and within them was an explosion of absolute masculine __**power**__ and __**energy**__. The sheer vigor of his gaze crashed into her like a massive and wild hurricane, and it squeezed out every atom of oxygen out of her lungs. _

_Hye Jin, despite being a powerful pureblood woman herself, felt like she was suddenly in the presence of a very powerful and gloriously dazzling man._

_Without warning, like an elegant asian dragon rising out of the Far Eastern Sea, the handsome man stood up and moved slowly __**towards**__ her. Hye Jin felt like she was frozen in place. All she could only watch – her widen eyes locked on his intense ones – as he __**slowly**__ approached her. _

_The seconds felt like hours. _

_Too soon, they connected their sharing glaze at each other for a short – but it felt so very, very __**long**__ – moment and then..._

_...__**He smiled**__. _

_His smile was so tender, __**pure**__ and __**warm**__ that a thousand suns couldn't compare to it. _

"_Good Morning." The man greeted as he respectfully lowered his wondrous plum jewel eyes and gave her a deep low bow. His long silver hair flowed down like a gentle stream around his face. The scent of sandalwood roses immediately hit her nose and Hye Jin felt like she was floating on a warm safe cloud. _

"_Are you well, miss?" He deep voice purred. _

_Miss? _

_Miss? _

_**Her?**_

_Hye Jin felt her blood __**rush**__ to her small pale cheeks. _

"_A-Ah..." Hye Jin began but __**could not **__figure out what to __**really**__ say. _

_If possible, the man's smile deepen with warmth, and his intense glaze dripped with overwhelming consideration. "You seem a bit flushed..." He looked at her charmingly. "Is there something I can do to you help you?" He softly asked. _

"_N-No!" Hye Jin stammered. "A-Actually...I..." She started to say but couldn't finish. _

_**Why exactly was she here anyway? **_

_Oh, right._

_To check his __**injures**__!_

_**Oh, my. **_

_It was wrong, but Hye Jin didn't think she would be able to __**survive**__ it if she just caressed one inch of those hidden smooth muscles of his!_

_**Aye.**_

_Blushing like a ripe strawberry, instead Hye Jin blurted out. "Areyouhurtanywhere?" _

_The man rapidly blinked. _

_Hye Jin felt like smacking her forehead. She repeated her question slowly. "A-Are you h-hurt anywhere?" She asked. "I-I'm a healer a-and I wanted to see if y-you needed some h-help." _

"_Ah." The man's plum jewel eyes lit up, by then his glaze shifted into a more compassionate shade. " I am quite fine, but can you make sure that the young Princess is okay? I wish to see her." He gently requested. "I fear for her health and physical state." He softly said. _

_Hye Jin was rendered absolutely wordless._

_**Wow**__. _

_For him to think of __**someone else**__ in such an unknown dangerous situation for him..._

_...What a noble creature this man was!_

_Hye Jin knew that if she was younger, not married, and didn't have a child...this man would have been the perfect type of man for her! _

_**End Flash!**_

_Oh, dearie!_ Hye Jin thought to herself as she slowly made her way to the room of the royal children.

Goodness! Certainly, she was far too old for this? How can a woman at her age still be affected by such simple things like a man's looks? Shouldn't she be over this phase a long time ago?

But it was the way he _held_ him...

And those _gorgeous_ lean muscles under such _perfect_ moonlight skin...

Or his bright and shiny long silver hair...

Or that wondrously _handsome_ face...

Or maybe it was those _ensnaring_ plum-gray orbs of his...

Hye Jin's blush burned brighter.

That was the problem, wasn't it? This man in question wasn't simple at all.

Still, Hye Jin was _adult_ enough to realize it wasn't just the man's looks that had thrown her so _off balanced_, but _**the man's entire persona itself! **_

Darkness forgive her, but just meeting that man _once_ – even for such a _brief_ moment - felt like a great reward in and of itself!

By Kami! It was like she had just met a _living_ _**Sir Galahad!**_

* * *

**Chapter Seventy-Nine: Facade **

* * *

**Present **

It felt _so good_ to be _bad_ again.

So very, _very_ _**good**_, indeed.

As he watched the foreign pureblooded woman dazedly walk out of his room, Silver Night nearly felt like darkly smirked to himself.

His mask of the _'Honorable Pure Knight'_ worked true _wonders_ on his latest 'victim'.

_**Ah. **_

It felt so good to be his _old_ self once again.

_Yes, indeed. _

Silver had now returned to being the central designer of his prey's false dreams. He was a being with many false faces. The _Doll_ that could wear _any_ mask. A master who could wear any disguise. A lord of seduction's perfect masquerade. Silver could transform himself into the perfect lover to any hungry, sad, or desperate soul, and he could switch and change his various masks as easily as one could blink.

But in all truth, Silver Night was truly nothing more than a _beautiful_ but _deadly_ **facade**.

First, he enchanted.

Second, he seduced.

Third, he possessed.

And last, he destroyed.

Silver had cultivated this vicious cycle of his to an _art_ form.

And nothing – or _no one_ – will be able to escape his treacherous cunning hand.

After all, he only had one true duty.

_Survive_.

And to survive...

_He destroyed. _

He utterly destroyed _anything_ and _everything_ in his path.

Like a master tactician planning his next war campaign, Silver decided that anything, everything, anyone, and everyone – were just _pawns_ to him now. He had no _need_ to feel any emotional connection to anything.

In fact, Silver darkly knew that his current emotions were _totally_ false. Fake. _Bogus_. **Forged**. _**Artificial**_. His previously struggling heart told him nothing but lies.

Lies. _Lies_. _**Lies!**_

Because how exactly could an incomplete soul – a shadow being – a false self like himself truly care about others?

_**Protect her!**_ A small quiet voice immediately called within him. _**Protect them!**_

However, for once in Silver's dark life, he utterly _ignored_ his other self's rare wishes.

If the dazzling man of light – his true self - refused to come back and become complete... _why_ did Silver have to heed his weak words?

Silver did not to do stupidly nobles things like _protect_ the weak.

As a _destroyer_, that was something _impossible_ for himself to do. _**Therefore, he wouldn't do it.**_ In the beginning of it all, Silver Night was a very _cruel_ and _selfish_ creature. Behind his many masks, facades, lies, and pretty words – he was a _**monstrosity**_. A calculating wretched darkness that knew not shame or regret or remorse.

He destroyed to survive, and he survived to destroy.

So those two captured children...those two _pawns_... were just something Silver would _use_ in order for him to _return_ to a more balanced life. Thus, no cruel tactic was off-limits to him. Even if he shielded his iron-cold evil intentions under a mild velvety light – anything and anyone was just a means to an end. Every plot, scheme, ploy, ruse, or conspiracy he could use – he would use to survive.

And to hell with the soul-damaging consequences.

Because really...what did it matter in the end?

He was nothing.

He wasn't safe. _He wasn't free_. _**And he wasn't complete.**_

So, he was _absolutely_ _nothing_.

Now and forever.

Silver felt the violent wrathful storm within him quiet down because everything had now been put back into its place.

"You want us to live in hell, true one? You _wanted_ that, no?" Silver darkly said to himself as he prepared himself for his next victim. "Then I will light its _hottest_ fires." He forebodingly promised.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

At the bedside of his unconscious youngest twin son, The King's Right Arm, Lord Takuma Ichijo, ran his shaking hand through his messy blond hair. His green eyes were heavy with trepidation, and he wished that this was all a sick dream.

His son, Genji Ichijo, was blissfully _alive,_ but now he looked like a burned up piece of meat.

Third-degree burns covered sixty percent of his body. The open wounds on his edematous limbs seemed to ooze with sick black-red slime. His young son's chest was struggling to take in air. And despite the doctor's assurances, Takuma felt like he may lose another precious family member within hours.

After his discussion with the Japanese Prime Minster, Ruka had called him and informed him about his child's state. Takuma had felt like his private world had been rocked by a massive earthquake, and he had rushed to Genji's and Hanabusa's child, Isamu's, current location. Ruka was part of the initial investigation of the substantial explosion in one of the restaurants inside the Imperial's White Queen Hotel building. However, she had discovered the two highly injured teen boys and promptly got them medical attention. Once she stabilized the King's Arm's children, she called them.

Takuma wanted to die.

By Night, if only Genji was a full noble vampire and _not_ a half human...he would not be in such a serious mortal state was he was and -

Takuma shook his head. _No_. No, that wasn't right. He couldn't think thoughts like that!

But still, Takuma had just gotten back to his homeland after years of wandering the world like a functional ghost and when he finally gets back...all his worst fears came to fruition.

Takuma felt like the world's worst father, and he couldn't even say one word.

_BANG! _

Without preamble, The King's Left Arm, Lord Hanabusa Aido stormed into the make-shift hospital room that was location three grounds under of the Queen's White Building's hotel basement floors. Outside the make-shift hospital room, the two on-duty vampire nurses and doctor jumped.

The King's Left Arm didn't seem to care, his entire body was shaking.

"WHAT THE _**FUCK**_ HAPPENED TO MY SON?" Hanabusa roared. His blue eyes were blazing with fear. "_**WHERE IS ISAMU**__?"_ His fellow blond screamed.

A moment of intense silence passed.

Yet, as Takuma was about to tell him what was going on, he was stopped in the most surprising of ways.

"I...can...h-hear...ya..." An unusually subdue voice gruffly voice called out from the other side across the room. "Ya...s-shitty...old lecher." The sleepy-eyed Isamu Aido had a certain rude classlessness in his dim stare.

Takuma blinked. _That boy was awake?_ He marveled.

But Hanabusa looked like a bucket of cold water was dumped on his hot head. His blue eyes flashed with sheer relief, but then they dangerously narrowed.

_Shitty old leacher?_

Him?

"If your fine enough to insult me, then I guess you're actually fine, you snotty punk." Hanabusa lowly growled as he slowly flew towards his slowly healing but still terribly injured son.

Takuma stared. _What type of father-son relationship was this?_ He incredulously thought.

"H-Ha!" Isamu markedly wheezed, but he tried to sit up. "W-Where is..._Haruka_?" He breathily gasped. "I-Is... he...o-okay?" He painfully questioned.

Their king had ordered all of his inner-circle members to keep the knowledge of his kidnapped children as quiet as possible, but if Isamu _knew_ _something_...

Hanabusa blinked, and he shot a surprised look at the equally surprised Takuma. "What about the Prince?" He asked his son.

"That...Korean...A-Asshole...injected him...with...s-something." Isamu tiredly explained. "T-then... it was... n-nothing...but... fire."

Korean Asshole? Injected him with something? Fire?

_**What? **_

"I don't understand what you are saying, Isamu." Hanabusa deeply frowned.

Isamu closed his tired hazel eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath. He needed to tell his father this. He needed to! Haruka was probably in great danger!

Gaining hidden strength from his weak body, Isamu said, "Goog...Song...Haruka's b-bully...was fighting...w-with Haruka...and he...injected him...with...s-something..." He finally said. "H-Haruka...looked..._scared_..."

Takuma's green eyes widen as the new realization hit him. "Goog Song? As in the heir to the Pureblood Korean Clan of Song, Goog Song?" He asked. "He injected the prince with an unknown poison?"

"..Y-Yeah..." Isamu said.

Despite his suddenly focused rage and pain, Takuma's mind was twisting over this piece of newly discovered information. And answer to all of what was happening immediately came to him.

Takuma needed to tell his King of this _immediately_.

* * *

_**Meantime... **_

Like only a vile and traitorous rat could do, Royal Korean Governor Byung Gi Kim was quickly fleeing from the scene of his brutal betrayal. The hover taxi was zooming to towards the nearest airport, and he was going to purchase to next to anywhere but Japan or Korea.

'It' was about to hit the fan.

Byung Gi had just informed the two Songs that everything was set in motion and ready for them. As he promptly took his leave, the young Goog proudly smirked, while the soft Joon Ho heavily sighed and gave him a last safe farewell and a quick good luck.

By darkness, Byung Gi felt like the dirtiest scumbag of all times.

Everything he had told them was a complete lie. Those two were pretty much walking head-first into their own deaths.

By telling the King's notorious executive assistant, Kai Ryenei, that it was the Song Family – _and the Song Family alone_ - that was behind everything, Byung Gi had ensured that the furious monarch would take out all his violent fury on the unsuspected pair when they finally met.

But the truly sad part of this vile plot was...that it wouldn't be enough.

It was like give away one thousand dollars for a single penny. _However, he did it anyway._ Still, Byung Gi was smart enough to know that this cruel betrayal only gave the rest of the rebels a few more minutes of time to escape.

But what were minutes when things could be drastically change in seconds?

So, this sacrifice, while total evil, was completely necessary.

After all, this was the nature of bloody revolutions.

* * *

_**Simultaneously... **_

It was time to call it a night.

The forever weak and eternally sick Maria Kurenai wheeled herself to her second computer and saw that her latest vampire social gossip entry about the Far Eastern Queen was nearing one thousands comments. Her various commenters had irrupted into a full-blown comment section war, and Maria shook her _weary_ gray-purple head.

Honestly, maybe she should just shut that entire thread _down_. People are such idiots.

Maria heavily sighed. Instead, she logged off of her vampire gossip blog, _The Court, __and__clicked out to another opened online window._ As she shifted through the hundreds of recently snapped photos of the first court divorce session between Mrs. Slut and her evil bastard king husband, Maria mildly wondered why she even _bothered_.

_Did anything she did even matter?_

Maria's silver eyes glazed over a bit as she darkly thought about it.

Sure, Maria felt _good_ after viciously dirtying the Slut Queen's reputation daily, but such actions were starting to lose their flavor now. Maria wasn't satisfied to shame and slander the worthless bitch from a hidden distance anymore.

_Not at all. _

Maria wanted to move on to the _next_ stage, and thus she wanted to make that selfish bitch _**suffer**_.

_Oh_, how Maria wanted to make that self-centered harlot _suffer_ and force that cold unfeeling bastard be mercilessly _punished_. Those two ugly souls deserved each other. She wished them eternal pain and sadness!

They had been like two stupid children who tugged both sides favored toy and broke it.

_Kami, they broke him._

Maria wanted them _both_ to suffer unendingly _so much_...

But would such a thing even be possible?

_And..._

And even if it was possible...even if Maria could somehow find a way to do it...

It wouldn't bring Zero back, you know.

**It wouldn't bring him back. **

Suddenly, Maria's silver eyes started to tear up at the black truth. All her rage, all her bitterness, all her regrets – meant absolutely _nothing_ because _**noth****ing **__**could bring a dead person back!**_

_Absolutely nothing. _

By darkness, Maria felt like killing herself. She just wanted to end her pathetic and weak existence _now_. Zero Kiryu was dead, and if she killed herself, perhaps she could _see_ him. After all, that was the best option right? She could just let Mrs. Slut and Mr. Bastard have at it with each other on this side of life, and if she was to die now...wouldn't it just be her and Zero on the other side?

_Finally? _

Hundreds of memories of her unrequited love crashed into Maria's ill mind, sick body, and dying heart.

Zero's short silver hair. _Zero's steady purple gaze_. **Zero's cutting tongue**. _Zero's defensive nature. _

Zero's protective anger. **Zero's gentle rare smile.** _Zero's steady presence._

Zero's sensitive mind. _Zero's kind heart. _

_**Zero's trusting soul.**_

By Darkness, even after all this time, Maria hadn't gotten over him. _She hadn't gotten over him, at all. _

And so, she hated.

Hated, _hated_, _**hated**_.

But her violent hate only hurt her the most in the end.

_If only..._

If only she hadn't been _sick_ or _weak_ or _**just**_ _**her**_...

Maria's silver eyes were engulfed by her silence tears.

No! She needed to distract her! She needed to distract herself from these painful thoughts, and so she started to rapidly click through the various pictures before her.

Picture after picture, image after image, photo after photo – Maria just didn't care anymore. Everything blurred together, and all the online picture images looked the exact same to her.

The tears didn't stop.

So Maria clicked and _clicked_ and **clicked** and _**clicked**_ and –

_**...What?**_

Maria's tiny fingers froze. Mindless, she stared at her computer screen from one long moment, but then she started to clicked on the back button. After a few more speedy clicks, she came back to the picture that had strangely registered in her confused and twisting mind.

_It was possible... _

The angle was _terrible_, but she could see that Mrs. Slut's wildly blushing young daughter was being carried towards an elevator door by an unknown long silver-haired man. His dark shade glasses were slipping of his face and just balancing at the edge of his nicely shaped nose, thus allowing any random observer to see the entire right side of his facial profile.

During their brief times together so long ago, Maria had always studied her unrequited love's physically features. If she had any talent at it, Maria knew she would be able to draw or paint any part of him instantly. Even now, Maria could remember every angle and inch of him. So, if anyone could know _him_ on sight...it would be her.

Still, Maria's confused mind felt like it had been transformed into a shocked hornet's nest.

And while this unknown man's facial profile was just _like_...

_**No. **_

_It wasn't possible... _

Instantly, Maria pressed the zoom button on the picture, directly over the unknown's man face and Maria briefly wondered if she was _actually_ going crazy.

_**Going completely and utterly crazy.**_

Maria had to be crazy!

_Because..._

Because _**that**_ _**person**_ looked exactly like...

..._**Zero**_ _**Kiryu**_.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, boy, would you look at that! XD Lots of crazy things are happening. ;3 And on a teasing side note - to my dear reviewer, ColorlessRainbow, your theory to Zero's breaking is _partly_ true. XD But not _exactly_ how you explained it! It is quite a twist, but my lips are zipped for now, folks! ;3

_**Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review of your thoughts! I love them all! :) **_


	81. Chapter 80 Educate

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Silver Night learned _many_ lessons during his long enslaved existence.

But the most important lesson he ever learned was to _always_ keep his various weapons _**honed**_.

Now, a fool would think that by 'weapon', Silver meant things like swords, guns, and massive spell powers. Those things were typical thought of when one thought of the word weapon. However, such things were typically forbidden for slaves and thus such a lesson, if that was what it _truly_ meant, would have been totally useless to him.

Nevertheless, Silver's weapons were of a more..._subtle_...kind.

After all, more people have died because of _words_ and seemingly nonthreatening _actions_ of a single person than all the world's wars combined.

The power of _indirectness_, the force of _beauty_ and _personality_, the influence of _seduction_, _tempting promises_, and _love_ – were the _**true**_ weapons that Silver wielded with an exactness that was otherworldly.

And with _these_ weapons, his hands will be forever stained with much blood.

Still, Silver's weapons were closely tied to his ability to _seduce_ and with his current situation, he was going to be employing nearly everything he learned of it over the years.

And it was time to start.

Silver Night closed his plum-gray eyes and _overwhelmed_ his charismatic aura with _**yang**_ energy. Well, it was the best way he could describe it. His currently majority _**yin**_ aura would _not_ help him because his current targets were both _male_ and _female_, and since he hadn't seduced a woman for quite some time now, his 'yang' auras and masks weren't as powerful as he would like.

_Darkness forbid_ that the women on this ship read him as '_friend'_ rather than '_potential_ _lover'_. Silver didn't do well with 'friend'. And he couldn't use the persona of 'friend' in this critical situation. Therefore, Silver needed a perfect balance between the two different sets of lover masks in order for him to wage his various manipulative games against each unique target.

While the two genders were similar in _many_ aspects, any fool with a brain knew the two sexes greatly differ when it came to the realm of love and seduction. Seducing a _man_ and seducing a _woman_ required two completely different methods, and Silver was _well-versed_ in both schools.

Yet, in truth, the feminine sex was the _more_ powerful sex in the realm of seduction. Throughout history and regardless of the land, women were the _natural_ masters in this powerful domain being the first to cultivate its uses. Men had been slow to pick up such an art in comparison and an old vampire saying highlighted this small truth.

_A man might find it easy to declare war, but a lover gave him the reason to do it._

All is fair in _love_ and _war_. That statement contained deeper truths that one realized.

In the long history of the Far East, feminine power was typically called 'yin' energy, and masculine power was referred to as 'yang' energy.

Yin and Yang.

Yang and Yin.

_Both_ seductive energies were at Silver's disposal.

Nevertheless, Silver Night knew that if he were a free and completed person, his natural energy/power would be more 'yang'. He knew this despite his seemingly submissive and numerous 'yin' personas that he had painstakingly created for himself over the long decades.

Domination, passion, confrontation, combat, and self-sacrifice are the key traits of a hallmark 'yang' nature. It was why a man would sooner fight or rule his fellow man instead of cooperating. The world of Mars was defined by wars, struggles, and strives.

Still, the fact of the matter was that most of his masters were _males_. Silver only had _three_ mistresses in his terrible life - two of which he had actually _slept_ with. Therefore, it was obvious that Silver had to cultivate and adopt numerous 'yin' personas to better meet his various male masters' many psychological and emotional needs. Most men tend to have dominant 'yang' energy and thus they response best to mostly 'yin' personas.

So, adopting 'yin' masks allowed Silver to foster a sense of belonging and understanding, instead of competition in his masters towards him. While there was such a thing as '_yin' men_, they weren't very common. And the sad truth of the matter was that it was _rare_ for objectively yang personalities to be _complements_ to each other.

The inherited _rivalry_ between opposing 'yang' personalities would be _so strong_ that either one side was utterly **destroyed** _or_ totally **tamed** by the other.

Hence, while Silver preferred the more austere virtues that were typical of 'yang' energies, as an enslaved sex slave, Silver would obviously _lose_ if he were to trigger his various male masters' _dominating_ instincts. And the fact that his current master was a pureblood vampire ruler – the instinct to dominate and control in such a man would be out of this world. Silver had a...taste...of his current master's cruelty during the far away night of the Winter's Ball.

And he had _no_ intention of going through such an event again.

Nevertheless, in Silver's experience with his few female 'victims', they responded best to highly intense 'yang' personas, while his many male 'victims' positively responded to highly intense 'yin' personas. In general, sticking to typically 'yin' or a typical 'yang' mask was a safer bet then not. And in his previous days, Silver had to switch between the two auras constantly for his various plots.

Yet, _sometimes_, he would have the blend some of his masks to meet the needs of a _**unique master.**_ And Master Kaname was one of those masters Silver had created a _special_ blend for.

By darkness, the man's 'yang' energy felt like it was on steroids at times! Master Kaname's possessive and obsessive desires to totally dominate and claim him often left Silver _beleaguered_ and _breathless_.

This was why Silver's mask for Master Kaname was the 'ideal lover' mask. While such a mask had more 'yin' qualities than anything else, by blending some unique 'yang' characteristics into his mask, it allowed him to better match his current master's mood.

It was lots of hard work, you know.

To make himself his Master's own selection. To intensify and combined every quality that his master liked best - such as physically lusciousness, mentally exciting exchanges, psychologically playful games, and emotionally touching acts. Silver crafted himself into the prefect dream for him. And he became the unspoken wish that his master wasn't even aware that he had.

His seduction of as master worked perfectly_. It was __**total**__ perfection._

However...

_**Memory Flash!**_ _"__Kaname…I__…" Silver cried. He wanted to __say__ something. However, what he wanted to say, he didn't know. It could have been __**anything**__, yet in the end, he __couldn't__._ _**End flash!**_

Instantly, a cold bucket of ice water felt on Silver's head at that oddly remembered realization.

By darkness, Silver felt his heart stop as he realized that he had nearly _destroyed_ his previous plotted ensnarement against the man.

_What had he been trying to say then?_ _**What the hell would he have uttered?**_

Silver felt an emotion that strangely felt like..._terror_... deep within him.

Was it _possible_...was is surely _possible_...that he would have...said something..._**utterly stupid**_...like...

_Like..._

**I love you?**

'_**Kaname, I love you.' **_

Would those four _accursed_ words have come out of _his_ lips?

Impossible.

_**That was totally impossible. **_

Notwithstanding the fact that such a _declaration_ would have **destroyed** all his hard work, Silver was an incomplete being – _a shadow person_ – thus having such a positive emotion like _love_ was impossible for him. Even now, he felt _nothing_ good in his heart. So it was impossible, wasn't it?

_Wasn't it? _

...Of course.

_Of course, it was impossible. _

Silver Night could love no one.

No one.

_No one. _

_**No one. **_

_**Thus, it was impossible.**_

And yet ...

_**Memory flash!**_ _The third self looked at Silver with...strange pity. "And only the true self can form love bonds, shadow self. __Only the true self can__." The waxed self sighed again. He looked at the golden door quickly, and seemingly without thinking about it, the waxed self added, "And the true self does not desire to ever form a true love bond __ever __again." __**End flash!**_

And yet, once upon a time, Silver's true self once had a _true-love bond_ with someone. So, surely...

In addition, his Master Kaname had _tried_ to form a love bond with him two nights ago and if such a thing had _happened_...what could have been the result?

A love bond?

Suddenly, there was an intense ache in his chest. A throbbing hole that seemed to replace his heart and –

_**NO!**_ Silver violently thought to himself _NO! __**NO!**__ NO!_

He **_could not_** be distracted by such..._**foolish**_...thoughts right now! Currently, his life was complicated enough as it was!

_I do not protect neither can I love._ Silver thought. _I do not protect neither can I love._ He repeated.

_**That was the truth.**_

That was the _complete_ and _utter_ _**truth**_...

So why did those words feel like a lie?

Despite their initial rocky start, Silver grew...too _comfortable_...around the man.

_**Memory flash!**__ "I will rest here for the day." Master Kaname wore a pleased contentment smile upon his face. He pulled him closer and settle his head at the croak of Silver's elegant neck. His right arm gentle hugged him and prevented him from getting away, but his arms seemed like such a nice and __**safe**__ place. __"Let us rest together, my love." The dark-haired man lowly whispered closed to his sleep. __**End Flash!**_

Silver felt a paradoxical loud silence within his dark soul.

What was he feeling in this moment?

Silver did not want to know. **_He did not want to know the answer to that question._ **

So, he did what he did _best_.

He destroyed.

Silver destroyed his _sickening_ half-heart.

* * *

**Chapter Eighty: Educate **

* * *

**Present**

Gold-brown eyes met light silver orbs, and their owners heavily sighed.

"Ah." Lord Akatsuki Kain groaned.

"Ah." Lady Seiren moaned.

As the only two card-carrying members of the 'Steady and Balanced People Club', the Two Co-Commanders of the Far Eastern Armed Vampire Forces, in unison, let out impressive sighs of sheer frustration again.

"I truly wish these things did not happen." Akastuki stated. "I really wished our circle had _normal_ problems."

"Agreed." Seiren exhaled nosily. "But you must take into account the various personalities in our group." She said. "But sometimes, I question if our close associates aren't exactly clear-headed most of the time."

"Too true." Akastuki replied. "Far too true. I have come to believe that everyone in our social circle are quite..._unbalanced_, Seiren." He sighed sadly again. " Unbalanced, _uneven_, **lopsided** – in their thinking." He described. "No one seems to be able to keep it together."

"Indeed." Seiren nodded her light purple head in approval. "We are definitely surrounded by totally illogical people."

"Indeed. _Indeed_." Akatsuki decided to run an aggravated hand through his pointy and short red hair. "I do wish common sense was something that was _sold_." Akastuki lowly complained. "If it was something that could be _purchased,_ then I don't think we would have all these terrible problems." He irately declared.

Seiren tsked. "Well Akatsuki, you know what they say, the problem with common sense is that it's not really that common." She grumbled.

"_Ah_." Akatsuki relented. "That is also too true." He depressingly said. "But, anyways, will you be in complete command of our special forces on this mission?"

In general, Lady Seiren was in-charge of all the off-the-record military operations, while Lord Akatsuki was in-command of general operations.

"In complete command of 'The Shadow'?" Seiren repeated to herself out loud. "No, I don't think that is wise. It would be better to have two different divisions, Akatsuki." Seiren said. "Even though the King and Queen are currently working together to find their children, I don't feel it will be in our best interests if they are constantly _beside_ each other." She said. "Yuki-chan looked like she was seconds away from ripping out _Kuran's_ throat."

Akatsuki raised a heavy red eyebrow at Seiren's less-than-typical-respectful address of their King.

Seiren saw that Akatsuki was _surprised_ at her 'disrespect', but as she remembered the newest revelations from the First Court Session, her silver eyes angrily flashed.

By darkness, Seiren had never been so _disgusted_ with another person in her entire life. To think that the man she had first severed so _loyally_ and _faithfully_ could have done such a vile thing...Seiren felt _deeply_ betrayed.

Loyal, honest, courageous, and so terribly, _terribly_ kind – the late Zero Kiryu was a man among men. Seiren could have done far worst for a first love's crush (like, say that fool Hanabusa!).

Never mind, the fact that the late Zero Kiryu was her first teenage crush, Seiren knew that kind man didn't deserve such a cruel fate. Though Seiren had only watched him from afar, she deeply admired the man's personality and character, and with all the things that bright hunter had _done_ for him...to be betrayed so _viciously_...

When she looked back to how her good friend and her first crush had interacted with each other, Seiren had always felt a bemused warmth within her as she watched them. Both were innocent and pure in their own unique ways, so it was like watching two fresh kittens play.

Yet, to think that the man she had served faithfully all these years had cunning planned the late Zero Kiryu's kidnapping, torture, and _murder_...Seiren felt internally ill. And, by night, if _she_ felt this way, how did her queenly friend feel?

Seiren shuddered at that terrible thought.

But then, when Seiren remembered some of the events that happened during shattered Yuki's lost five years of madness, the army woman felt a vile coldness in her, and she nearly broke out into a cool sweat.

_I don't want that time to be repeated._ Seiren thought to herself. _I don't want __**that time**__ to be repeated. _

But if the Princess and Prince – the Prince, _especially_ – were _**killed**_ during this...

By Night, Seiren knew Yuki _**wouldn't**_ be able to handle it. Especially if Yuki lost her _son_. While Princess Juri was greatly loved by her mother, Seiren knew that Prince Haruka held a special but odd place in her heart. Prince Haruka was _extremely_ similar in temperance and personality to the late Zero Kiryu in many ways, and having that was both a comforted to Yuki but, at the same time, a great _injury_ to her whenever the woman interacted with her young son.

And The prince was intensely _loyal_ to his mother. Definitely more so than to his father (but is one really _that_ surprised by that?). Still, Prince Haruka would fight to the death for his mother's sake.

But if Prince Haruka was _killed_ during this kidnapping...it would be like Kiryu all over again.

Seiren wasn't going to allow that possibility! _She wasn't going to allow it at all!_

Nevertheless, Akatsuki decided that he was going to ignore his co-commander's _reduction_ of respect for their pureblood ruler. It wasn't like she had said that in front of their troops or anything, so it really wasn't any of his business.

Still, to be honest, Akatsuki had never been under any delusion that King Kaname Kuran was a _good_ person. While his temperance was akin to being a 'living statue' (and thinking back, it was the late ex-human hunter who had described him as such), Akatsuki was the type of person who went along to get along - most of the time.

Between his parents' nagging, his blond cousin's idol-worship, and his current wife's previous obsession with the pureblooded man, Akatsuki Kain had just fallen in line with those around him. He understood that King Kuran was an amazing and insanely powerful man, so it was far better to _serve_ him than be his enemy.

Still, Akatsuki would never admit this in a million years, but he had somewhat admired the late ex-human vampire hunter. Unlike his blond cousin who would get into unneeded rages over the ex-human's 'disrespect', Akatsuki was secretly _amused_ by it. It would never show upon his face, but if one could hear his internal laugher during the silver-haired hunter's and pureblood Kuran's many 'cock-fighting' exchanges, it would have sounded like a well-paid circus.

Other than the queen, the late Kiryu was the only one to bring out such a variety of emotions from the otherwise distant but powerful man.

Still, for his king to bluntly betray him like that...

Akatsuki did not know what to feel about that. _He didn't really know._

And so he decided to just go along to get along, for now.

"We will split our secret force into two divisions, Akatsuki." Seiren decided. "I will take the Red Division of the Shadow and leave with the queen, momentarily." Seiren said. "You take the Blue Division and leave with the king after his press conference." She suggested. "However, we must keep in touch as much as possible. There are too many wild cards, and I'm not sure how everything will be played out."

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

One step...

_Two steps... _

**Three steps...**

_**Four steps... **_

Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire King Kaname Kuran felt a venomous internal ache entrenched within his empty soul. As he quietly walked towards the room where the newly setup, press conference would be in the King's Red Wing Building of The Imperial, King Kaname Kuran found it _very_ hard to mentally and emotionally _steady_ himself.

He wasn't doing a good job. The pain within him was so awful that he could hardly draw in a small breath.

Five steps...

_Six steps... _

**Seven Steps...**

_**Eight steps... **_

It was so hard – _so very hard_ – to really focus. Everything in his mind felt like it was twirling. His emotions, his thoughts, his wishes, his dreams...all were swirling, dancing, and twisting all together creating nothing more than his private lost sea of silent hurt.

Kaname felt like an adrift and lonely sailor with no lighthouse to show him the path towards home.

What exactly has he been doing all this time? _What exactly has he been doing?_

His wife – _his heart_ – looked at him and treated him now like he was nothing more than a monster. A dark evil-hearted monster at worst, or, at best, something that was _second best_.

To be honest, if Kaname had a choice in the matter. He would prefer Yuki to think of him as a monster.

_Why? _

Because it would _hurt_ much less to be seen as a _monster_ rather than as a _second choice._

Since what are monsters _really_?

Are they really just creatures so ugly or grotesque that they simply frighten people? Are they really just things revoltingly deviating from the norm?

Monsters are generally known to be objectively depraved, physically hideous, and/or absolutely immoral. However, the root of the word monster comes from the word 'monere', which means both to _warn_ and to..._**instruct**_.

Another way to understand the concept of monster is that a monster is a special type of _sign_ or an instruction to the world. Thus, how could monsters be inherently unredeemingly evil, when they are just a part of the world's natural design?

Monsters are fate's _deliberate_ mistakes.

_Deliberate mistakes._

At that curious thought, Kaname felt the low throbbing emptiness inside him..._cool down_...

_**Deliberate mistakes.**_

...And too soon, his internal great pain morphed into a growing...

..._**RAGE**_...

_**Memory flash! **__He was a stranger in a strange land. Defeated, dirtied, and tendered, he was a lost man who had found himself in a strange land. It was a land of unknown heat and black fire. It was a land covered in pure gold, rare stones, and bright diamonds. It was a land of many dark faces. The quiet oceans had forced him to drift on the path that led to this strange hot land. _

_A dark skin woman with glowing imperial crimson irises looked at him with complete suspicion and utter distrust. "Who are you, pale skin one?" __**End flash!**_

_**Deliberate mistakes.**_

_**He**_ was Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire King Kaname Kuran: Ancestor of the Kuran Line, the Royal Night Lord of Japan, Leader of the Eastern Pacific Vampire Coalition, and the to-be emperor of the entire world.

Thus, Kaname's handsome face suddenly became _unreadable_. All that was true, but that one small question asked over and _over_ and **over** to him throughout his long and painful life came _roaring_ back to his mind now.

_Who are you, pale skin one? _

Who are you?

_Who are you, Kaname? _

Honestly, Kaname wondered that himself.

Was he Kaname the Man, _Kaname the Monster_, or _**Kaname the Monster of Man?**_

What was the _answer_ to such a vital question?

* * *

_**Simultaneously... **_

This was it.

Soon, Goog Song would finally achieve his last part in these cunning plots. However, the young rebel, felt extremely nervous.

_Extremely_.

But could you _really_ blame him?

Goog and his father, Joon Ho Song, had learned that Lord Shiki was holding a small press conference for the king so that he could explain last night's earlier events (specifically, Queen Kuran's unleashed power and violent rage that pretty much destroyed all the glass objects within the Queen's White Building of The Imperial Hotel). As Lord Shiki and Lady Touya were busying themselves with the minor preparations, Goog and his father mingled with the small gathered crowd of audience onlookers, minor reporters, and waiting cameramen in the first floor banquet room of King's Red Wing Building.

Still, Goog felt unbelievably nervous.

By darkness, this was probably Goog's greatest chance of a lifetime! He was going to meet his idol _face_ to _face_...and wage his first high-stake battle of mental wits! It was the moment that he had _wished_ for. The moment that he _always_ longed for and dreamed of and finally – _finally_ - this dream would be coming true.

So, for a brief moment, Goog wondered how exactly he could be so lucky!

Still, while everyone was nervously waiting for the King's appearance, Goog also had another problem to deal with. A great big problem indeed!

What problem was that you might ask?

Well, _surprisingly_, Goog felt _guilty_.

He really felt _really_ guilty.

Strangely, Goog felt _extremely_ bad that he was going to be _deceiving_ his long-time role model, idol, and wished-for dream father.

Goog sighed darkly to himself. _Why couldn't King Kuran have been my real father?_ He thought to himself. _If he was my father, I wouldn't have to __**do**__ this._

Goog sighed again.

Fate was so cruel to him! Too cruel to him! By darkness, Goog truly felt like he had been switched at birth. He had to be! Goog would have given anything to be the son of King Kuran and thus the rightful heir to the Far Eastern Throne, and if he had simply been _born_ into the Kuran Line his plot would have been _pointless_.

King Kuran was everything that Goog wanted to be! _No._ Not just that! King Kuran was exactly what Goog will be some day. The man practically radiated robust power, brilliant privilege, and severe ambition. Looking at King Kuran was like looking at his future self, and, for another moment, Goog felt guilty.

_If only he had been born a Kuran..._

_Well_, Goog thought to himself. _I wasn't born a Kuran, but today I'm going to __**remedy**__ that. _

Even so, Goog was still _unbelievable nervous._ After all, trying to deceive his idol in such an underhanded way wasn't exactly something he was _happily_ looking forward too.

Still, Goog thought that, at very least, by doing this he would leave a superior impression of himself on his idol. After all, since Goog fancied himself a future vampire world ruler, he knew he was destined to be a part of the Kuran Royal Family one day! ( By way of marrying Princess Juri, of course!) Therefore, in a weird way, Goog wanted King Kuran to look back on this moment and be highly impressed with Goog's methods and behavior. Hell, Goog even wanted to outshine his own son in King Kuran's imperial eyes!

After all, could Prince Stupid have implemented such a...well, _genius_ plan like this and succeed?

The answer to that question was had huge no. _Nope!_ The little fool could not! And Goog felt like gloating a bit on that!

Prince Dummy felt right into his trap like a mouse in a simple mousetrap. By night, Goog felt somewhat _sorry_ for his idol for having such a useless and stupid guy for his only son. That was probably the one fault Goog could see in his idol. His son.

_Bah!_ If Goog's future son was anything like Prince Haruka, well...

...Killing it at birth wasn't such a bad thing now, was it?

Nevertheless, in some ways, after King Kuran had some time (a great amount of time really) to reflect on this moment, Goog truly believed that his idol would come to... _appreciate_...the fact that his future son-in-law was such a praiseworthy person who mirrored himself exactly like himself!

That was the _only_ thought that encouraged Goog. One day, after all of this was over, his idol would _commend_ him for this terrible scheme.

On the other hand, Goog prayed that his part in this last plot would work. While Goog was young, he wasn't an idiot. If this plot of his didn't work like he hoped it would, he knew his idol would show him _no_ mercy.

Goog needed to be on his best game.

And, without any warning, Goog's idol suddenly appeared across the room.

The small crowd nearly went wild!

The Far Eastern Pureblood Ruler's reddish-brown medium-length hair flowed gently down the sides of his neck and slightly swept his broad shoulders. His tall frame and tone body was swathed in black silk, white cashmere, and gray virgin wool. Black leather gloves covered his long fingers, and his designer leather dress shoes glossily shined in the morning light.

As a pureblood vampire, King Kuran was naturally youthful-looking. He looked no older than someone in their late twenties, and his otherworldly facial handsomeness was breathtaking. Still, despite his handsome face, the King was _expressionless_. However, his dark eyes seemed to take in _everything_ that was happening around him. Goog could feel the sharp intelligence and cunning astuteness of his idol that was hidden behind his obvious poker face.

_Wow._ Goog stared in awe. _Just Wow._

Just before him was his great idol – _the_ Far Eastern Vampire King Kaname Kuran _himself_.

"Good evening, gentlemen." King Kuran lightly started. His tone felt like cool dark silk. He swiftly moved towards the set-up of microphones "Let begin this press conference immediately."

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N: **And the plot marches on! XD Still, only four reviews last chapter, guys? ;_; It kind of made me sad! But is it because a lot of you are studying for finals and what not? XD I know I should be! Maybe I should postpone updating until after things cool down? And when do most of you guys get out of school/get a break, etc. anyway? :)

Furthermore, to answer some questions I got. Silver's doesn't really have your typical bangs. He can give himself bang-like looks, but what he has is a very layer hairstyle that can blend in with the other parts of his hair into whatever style he generally wishes. This allows him to change into many different looks/personas! Hair does make the man, you know! ;D As for another new theory as to the Zero/Silver mystery...perhaps, perhaps! ;) Or maybe not at all! X3 My author lips are still sealed, but I really enjoy hearing what you guys think! ;D

_**Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review – short or long – I love them all! ;) **_


	82. Chapter 81 Lesson

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

President of the Vampire Hunter's Association Toga Yagari listlessly looked at his four large medication pills that innocently sat next to his small glass of lukewarm water. Logically, Toga knew he should take them –with it being the correct time and all - but his twisting thoughts and engulfing emotions just weren't allowing him to accomplish such a _simple_ objective. Nothing seemed very clear to him right now. And, quite frankly, Toga was tired.

He was so very, _very_ tired.

Toga wanted to sleep. He wanted to sleep forever and ever and perhaps if he took these pills and chocked on them, wouldn't that give him his ticket for an eternal rest?

No.

If Toga was going to chock on anything, it would not be on some crummy medication pills. Oh, no. Toga would not be killed by something like that. No, indeed. If Toga was going to die by anything (if not old age), he would prefer to die _fighting_. Fighting for a cause, for a person, for his past – Toga wished to die _protecting_ something.

But he had _nothing_.

Still, even as he stared at his medication, Toga felt a dreadful old emotion swim inside his dark heart. Out of all the emotions Toga had ever felt, this one emotion was probably what caused his mental misery and his physical decay. It was an emotion that he knew had constantly stayed with him throughout the years - like a very tender companion - ever since he _first_ felt it.

And the dark emotion was..._**hateful spite.**_

Oh, how Toga _**hatefully**_ _**spited**_ everything around him.

The world. His life. His job. Those monsters of the dark. But most of all, Toga's deep malice was pointed towards..._King Kaname Kuran._

That _monster_ should die. _No_...that monster _needed_ to die...,and Toga wanted to be the one to do it.

_Everything was that accrued monster's fault._

"You need to take those meds, Toga." Vice President Kaito Takamiya heavily sighed. "If you refuse to do even that...how exactly are you going to handle everything else?"

Toga looked at Kaito, and his feeling of nastiness skyrocketed. Illogically, his dark emotions seemed to want to make _Kaito_ his newest target.

_This was Kaito's fault. _

_If_...

If Kaito had been a better friend and not some stupid witless rival-enemy to him...Zero would have still been _alive_ today.

While Kaito didn't truly understand Toga's darkly turning thoughts, he did notice the odd look on his winkled face and gloomily frowned at him. "Don't even think of taking out your rage on me, ya hear?" He sighed. "It would be a damn shame if we old panthers decided to square off at each other over something that we couldn't have known." Kaito heavily sighed again and bleakly looked toward the ceiling of Toga's presidential office. "Kaien is taking it even _worst_ that you are." He quickly admitted. "He's the one that allowed them all meet." He snarled.

But if Kaito thought that revelation was something that would change Toga's dark mood...he was completely wrong.

The dark feeling of spite inside Toga's weary heart _intensified._

And it found a _new_ target for blame.

_This was Kaien's fault. _

_If_...

If Kaien had not allowed Zero and the Kurans to ever meet then his untimely death would have never happened. His precious student-son would have been alive and _free_ and **wonderful** and..._and_...

_**Happy. **_

Zero would have been happy, if only Kaien had the intelligence to prevent him from meeting that evil _demon_ of a man. By the sword, what was the point of living so long and gaining such wisdom if he refused to use it?

Against Kaien Cross, Toga nursed his hateful spite like an expensive drink.

"Take your medications, Toga." Kaito snapped. "We still have some important things to do before noon."

Grudgingly, Toga reached over and shoved the pills down his throat and rapidly drank his glass of water. His inner dark feelings remained in his burning heart.

Spite. _Spite_. **Spite**.

Oh, how Toga felt and _relished_ and _**nursed**_ this awful spite.

Yet, for all of his spite, Toga could not shift the blame.

Toga could not blame Kaito...

Toga couldn't even blame Kaien...

Because who was it that was supposed to be there? Who was it that promised his old mentor friends, Masa and Kyo Kiryu, that he would always protect and look out for their children? Who was it that let his guard down?

Who was it that _blindly trusted the __**very monster**__ that __**arranged**__ for __**his beloved son's murder**__? _

**Who really was at **_**fault**_** here? **

Toga knew the answer. He knew the answer like it was _engraved_ in his soul.

_This was his fault. _

_If_...

If he had just _stayed there_ and ignored that stupid (silly, ill-advised, imprudent, ridiculous) meeting, _then_...

_Zero would still be here._

To protect.

Zero would have been alive and _happy_ and **free**... because Toga would have given _his life_ to ensure his protection.

_Toga would have laid down his life for Zero to live. _

By Sword's Blood, Toga was such a _miserable_ failure. _And_ a hypocritical fool. _And_ a duplicitous teacher. Toga _**failed**_ at doing the most important core concept he always drummed into Zero's stubborn head.

He failed. _He failed_. **He failed.**

_Zero...I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. _

For some reason, Toga felt like crying. It would be laughable if it wasn't so terribly true. Here he was, an old wise man, a harden warrior, a world-renowned vampire hunter leader, and he wanted to roll up into a fetal ball and cry himself to death.

_This was all his fault. _

How is it that a father fails to protect their child? How is it that the father dies _after_ their son? How is that even possible?

Knock. _Knock_.

Toga was roughly pulled out of his _dire_ thoughts.

Kagome Takamyia, Kaien's great-grand niece, poked her dark head out of the door. The young hunter woman looked at the two depressed old males before her, and she wondered if she should just ignore her current caller and just let the two men be. Still, it was quite an unusual caller she had. Noble vampires aren't known to call the Hunter's Association, after all. But this vampire sounded so _desperate_...

Therefore, after clearing her voice, Kagome asked, "Does either of you know of a noble vampire named _Maria Kurenai_?" She asked. "She's currently on the line for one of you." She said.

* * *

**Chapter Eighty-One: Lesson **

* * *

**Present**

The Kuran Princess Juri Kuran felt like a herd of obese elephants had decided to tap dance on every fragile inch of her body. She had a roaring headache with a slight ringing in her ears. Each of her four limbs felt unnatural heavy, but in spite of the terrible pain she was feeling, the young princess rebelliously opened her crusty dark-brown eyes.

The morning sunlight viciously attacked Juri's poor eyeballs.

Ever so slowly, she moved her right hand over her injured eyes. "Oh." Juri groaned as she snapped shut her pained eyes. "Oooh. _Ooooh_. Ooooooh."

"_Oh dear_." A soft and gentle voice rang out. "I forgot to close the curtains." The light feminine tone quietly said.

Almost immediately, Juri heard the sound of someone getting up and the rattling sound of heavy curtains being closed. A mild darkness engulfed the area, and at that, Juri opened her eyes again.

_Much better._

A pretty middle-aged Korean Pureblood woman smiled down at her. "I am so glad that you are awake, Princess Kuran." The lady quietly said. "I was beginning to worry."

Juri could only stare at the foreign woman. "Where -?" She winced. Juri's throat felt like a desert. She placed her heavy right hand over her throat and started to massage it. Blinking, the older woman quickly handed her small glass of water. Hands slightly trembling, Juri quickly drank the glass of lukewarm liquid and returned to massaging her throat.

"Where...am I?" Juri started again.

"You are on our yacht." The older woman answered. "And we are taking you, your brother, and your bodyguard to our secret base." The gentle woman explained.

_Her brother?_ Juri frowned. _Yacht? Secret base?_ Things were changing far too quickly for her liking.

Juri felt scared.

"I want my mama." She lowly asked. "I want to see her right now."

At the childlike requests, the older woman's eyes soften considerably. "I'm afraid that won't happen too soon, Princess." Hye Jin Song said. "You and your brother have become vital pieces for our future goals." Her dark eyes slowly glowed with her words. " So please, do not resist." She gently requested. " I have no desire to see you, and your brother treated roughly during your time with us." Then the mild-mannered woman added. "I want to ensure your health and care until your parents agree to our terms."

Juri stared.

This definitely wasn't a good situation.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

_Why exactly is this taking so long?_ Far Eastern Pureblood Vampire King Kaname Kuran listlessly thought to himself.

"And what about your children, my king?" A nameless reporter woman lowly asked. "How are they taking it?"

King Kaname smiled softly at the trembling reporter. "The Heir Prince and Royal Princess are quite fine." Kaname effortlessly lied. "They are taking in the current situation quite well." He calmly said.

For some reason, not one of the reporters seemed to believe what he was saying. Well, not exactly. For some reason, they all looked _scared_.

Terrified. _Petrified_. **Horrified**.

_How strange. _

Kaname felt perfectly _relaxed_ and _calm_.

Ah, but this was done now, so it was time to _end_ _this_.

Looking into the main camera, Kaname said. "My Queen and I have decided that we will be having a few private discussions in regard to our personal affairs." He royally stated. "Still, I would like to humbly apologize again for any feelings of fear over our mild fight earlier." Kaname kindly nodded his head. "I ensure you, my subjects, that you will not need to fear such matters soon. In time, everything will be in its proper place."

And like that, the mini-press conference was over.

Like ants that had just heard that winter was coming early, the Shikian media personnel quickly packed up their things and headed out the room as swiftly as they could – strong expressions of fear clearly on their many faces.

Kaname was at a lost as to why. It wasn't like it was raging out of control. Nope. He wasn't out of control. Kaname was just angry. _Calmly angry._ **Coldly angry.** He was so angry that he didn't even know what he was truly angry about.

Was he angry because his two precious children were kidnapped? An obvious yes.

Was he angry because his current love was kidnapped as well? A definite yes.

Was he angry that his estranged wife was finally back at his side? Not a sure yes.

Was he angry that she had declared that she would choose _another_ man over him again despite all their time together? An assured yes.

So, of course, Kaname was angry. But he didn't _think_ it would show.

After all, he was _smiling_.

Smiling. _Smiling_. **Smiling.**

**HURT.**

But despite the fact that the Far Eastern King was lightly smiling, everyone in the small conference room fled from his great presence. Sort of like when wild animals knew that a dark tsunami was about to hit, and they wanted no part in it. Nevertheless, Kaname kept a neutral look on his face, and he silently watched as the lights dimmed and the crowd of the small press conference reporters quickly retreated.

_**Memory Flash!**__"Without a doubt, Kaname." Yuki icily said. "Without a doubt. __Without a shred of hesitation__. _And without any regrets_." __**End Flash!**_

**PAIN.**

_Wow. _

_Amazing_.

Even now, Kaname felt a deep and terrible emptiness within him, but he kept on _smiling_...

_**Memory Flash! **_"If_...if Zero came back...I would take him away and __never__ return." Yuki quietly said. "I would take him far, __far__ away... and we would... live __happily__ ever after." Yuki bluntly said. "Zero has always been __first__ in my heart, Kaname." Yuki continued. "__He was first__." Then Yuki turned her back to Kaname."You just can't be compared to him." __**End Flash!**_

Kaname tried to block that dark emotion from his heart. He blocked it and locked it away deep inside of him. There was no time for this. _No time at all_. Thus he decided to stand up. There were things for him to do. There were things for him to do and _complete_ and **see to...**

Yet, this inner turmoil within Kaname was _**unbelievable**_...

**AGONY.**

_Still_, his helicopter should be here at any moment to transport his wife and himself to one of their private vampire military bases that was located 40 miles off shore Tokyo Japan within the Pacific Ocean. That base would allow them to plan and execute their rescue plans better. Therefore, Kaname needed to _focus_ on finding his precious lover and his beloved children... with..._Yuki_...

Kaname got up from where he was sitting and started upon his way.

Yet, without warning, a young voice called out to him. "My King!"

Kaname ignored it. He had far more important things to do.

"My King!" Same voice. Kaname frown. A feeling of deaden annoyance quietly muted his internal pain. But too soon and far too rapidly, Kaname's feeling of tragic pain and cool anger was morphing into a coldly burning fury. While Kaname was unsure of his true sentiments at this moment, at least he knew that he wasn't in the right frame of mind to deal with _direct_ foolishness.

But that someone who had rudely been calling out to him again was quickly racing towards him. And lo and behold, the rudely loud person who had called out to Kaname was the most _surprising_ of persons.

_His Haruka's little rival_...

...The young Pureblood Vampire Korean Goog Song.

**WOE.**

In truth, Kaname was tempted to _strike_ his son's rival dead. _Stone cold dead_. Bleeding dead. Dead _**Dead**_. Well...maybe not dead, but at least _severely_ injure him. After all, if his son was taken from him – if his son was _killed_ - then this child would be of no more use to him.

_Nope_. Not at all.

After all, what was the point of having a son's rival if Kaname had _no_ son?

Still, Kaname needed to maintain his _composure_. He needed to be _calm_ and _relax_ and so _totally in control over this situation._

Which he was.

_Honest_.

"Ah, Song-shi." Kaname formally said. _See?_ He was civil and calm. "What a surprise." Unfortunately, Kaname could not manage to call this surprise 'pleasant', 'nice', or 'good'.

The Young Rebel Goog Song sudden feelings of bravery was quickly melting away. His father was keeping himself at a respectful distance during this last plot's verbal exchange, so it wasn't like Goog was suddenly alone. But for some strange reason, he was very unsure of his part in this last plan.

Unsure because he was..._**unnerved**_.

And he was _unnerved_ because of the most _unusual_ of things.

Despite his idol's gentle tone, relaxed body language, and expressionless face, Goog felt very unnerved when he dared to get a brief peek of his idol's face.

It was his idol's eyes.

His favorite idol's eyes were _unnerving_ him.

Goog had never been so close to his idol before, so he had never looked him in the eyes. Still, with all the various pictures that he had seen of him, Goog had thought that his eyes were a mild dark-brown color like his wife's and his children's had. However, the current shade of his idol's eyes weren't a dark-brown he had been expecting.

King Kaname Kuran's irises were a dark garnet-chocolate color.

Goog didn't know what to make of it.

The young Song looked around the now mostly empty room of the press conference uneasily. "My King," the boy looked nervous. "I have something _very_ important to discuss with you."

Kaname wanted to witheringly _sneer_, but he **controlled** him. There was no need for him to listen to his son's rival when he had no son.

_No son. _

**MISERY****.**

The thought – _the very idea_ – felt like a stinging, callous, and cutting pain to Kaname. Instantly, the father lost the last tight and hot breath from within his body.

No son.

He had nothing.

_Kaname had absolutely nothing besides him now._

No child.

No wife.

No love.

Nothing._** Nothing**_. _**NOTHING**_.

_By Night!_ The dark pain in Kaname's soul felt fantastically fatal. He _really_ needed to be on his merry way. His mind felt like it was _buzzing_. It was buzzing, _twisting_, and **curling** and Kaname felt utterly off-balance and _lost_.

Lost. _Lost_. **Lost**.

Lose. _Lose_. **Lose**.

Always losing, always lost.

_Keeping on losing, Kaname. _

He needed to go.

"I do not really have the time, young Song-shi." Kaname started to move away.

"Please listen to me, your highness." The boy dropped onto his knees. "Please listen to me! I have something very important to tell you!"

_Important?_ What could be so important that this child would dare -

And without _any_ ingenious, the boy launched into his story. Kaname _barely_ listened. He caught a few of his key words here and there. Something about seeing a group of shadowy unknown Mongolian purebloods arguing at a restaurant early. His son was arguing with them. An explosion of sorts. _Whatever_.

During the conference, one of Akastuki's men who then informed him who then informed all the members of the inner circle, said that the last place anyone saw Haruka was in a restaurant in Yuki's building. With Yuki's mother-child bonds with their children, they already knew the missing Haruka was no longer there. However, Ruka and Rima had gone immediately to check it out. So, nothing of importance was really gained by listening to this dense idiot. Was he trying to get on his good side or something? Goodness, to Kaname, the boy's words heedlessly droned on and on (**and** _on_) and seemed to morph into a mindless noise in Kaname's highly annoyed ear.

Goog saw his idol's dark eyes growing..._dull_ and that his idol's lips were slightly twisting into an unfamiliar but vaguely _sour_ expression.

Fear raced through Goog's spine. _Oh no!_ This had to work! He needed to get his idol to believe that the Pureblood Mongolians were behind everything! Goog was trying to plant the seeds of doubt that it was _they_ who had kidnapped their royal brats and thus was also behind the past terrorist plot! But what if Goog failed? What type of rage would he see? What type of wrath would Sosono unleashed on him if he didn't succeed in this critical stage?

Goog decided to chance it. "My King," He boldly asked. "Did you hear the important things I said?"

_...Important things I said? _

Kaname's eyes flashed. His ego _deeply_ insulted. "Important?" He echoed. "_Important_?" Kaname hissed. "Quite frankly, _child_, I heard _**nothing**_ _**of importance from you**_." He stared down his nose at him. "_Only pitiable mewling_." He spat out.

Goog felt like he had been _punched_ in the **gut**.

His idol..._his role model_..._**his future father-in-law said**_...he...was...

_Nothing of importance. _

_Pitiable mewling. _

Goog was _unbelievably_ hurt.

Truly hurt by his idol's words, Goog said. "_Fine then!"_ He blasted. " But you will regret not listening to me when you should have!" The teen pureblood declared with a raised tone of voice and a slight tear in his dark small eyes.

_Whatever._

Looking at the young foreign pureblood teen before him, Kaname pressed his lips tightly together and shook his dark head.

Whatever. _Whatever_. **Whatever**.

Kaname quickly dismissed the child's stupid comments, and he _needed_ to be going. By darkness, what a damn waste of time he was! So, lightly hissing his teeth, Kaname turned around to leave. Honestly, perhaps Kaname needed to select for Haruka a better rival, because Kaname didn't see why Haruka should waste time _or_ patience on such a foolish –

Kaname's darker instincts _screamed,_ and Kaname's quick intelligence switched on with a _**vicious**_ _**focus**_.

_Regret?_

_**Regret...what?**_

..._Regret_ _not_... _**listening**_...

_Regret not listening to him_...when...Kaname..._**should have?**_

Why would Kaname _regret_ not listening to his son's rival for? What type of game was this boy playing with him? His badly blasted words to Kaname suddenly seem to come to life to him in new and out of this world ways, but one thought dominated the off-balanced King's thoughts in this matter.

_The boy knew something. _He knew something... _**important!**_

And that _something_ was obviously not what he had said previously.

Garnet-chocolate eyes glittering with malicious intelligence, Kaname calmly turned back around. When his eyes met with his son's rival's gaze again, to his internal dark amusement, he felt the boy's spirit quake a bit in terror.

_**Good. **_

"What is it that you know, _boy_?" Kaname softly asked - completely dropping all pretext of actually _respecting_ this young imbecile. "What is it that I will regret not listening to?" Kaname asked deceptively softly.

Goog blinked. He was completely taken aback by his idol's renew interest in him. He had just decided to screw the plan and leave, but there was a slight change here. The young Korean vampire wasn't sure how he _sensed_ it, but he suddenly felt the need to move very, _very_ carefully.

Goog could feel a _dangerous_ change in the air.

"I just told you, your majesty." Goog assumed. "Your most honorable son was arguing with one of the Mongolian purebloods when the explosion happened!" He said. "So, I'm sure they have something to do with it!"

_He_ was...sure they did it...was he?

Kaname could only _stare_ at the child.

There was no possible way that it could have been the _Mongolians_. No possible way. Weren't they located in _his_ building? After all, they were the most loyal demographic out of all of his subjects. With the honors he had given them, they would have to be _fools_ to cross him at this point in time. Which they weren't.

"I don't care much for baseless accusations, boy." Kaname dismissed.

It was too obvious. Clearly, this young fool's story was...a _fabrication_ of sorts. But the key question here was- _why?_

Kaname's mind speedily spun with questions.

Why was this child lying about such things? What did he gain from such a thing? Why is it -

But frustrated with his progress, Goog Song unleashed a terrible lie in order to get things moving along the direction he wanted them to go. "But I saw them take him, my king!" The King stared at him. "I saw them!"

There was a dangerous stillness within Kaname's black soul as he slowly understood what this child _dared_ to say.

_He saw them? _

He saw them _take his son_?

He saw them take his son, _and he did __**nothing**__ to stop it?_

Kaname went _**cold**_.

He looked down at the child unresponsively. "Then who was it then?" Kaname slowly, _dangerously_, and _**coldly**_ asked. An icy hot fury erupted inside of his heart at that second revelation. "Who actually _dared_ to touch my son?" Kaname murderously hissed.

Goog felt something twist inside him, but he had to _stand his ground!_ He had to!

_**This was it.**_

Goog had to prove that he wasn't _scared_ of him! That he wasn't weak! That he wasn't stupid! That he had a _damn back bone,_ and he would also be a great and noble person like his idol in the _future_!

Goog's mind exploded with logical reasons to do so. King Kuran was _trapped. _Trapped, he said! Goog was the only one who had the _information_ that he wanted or needed. In fact, _Goog_ was the one that held all the true _power_ here. Therefore, King Kuran would have to agree to what _he_ _**demanded**_. If he wanted to find his children, of course. Goog held all the cards, and so his idol would have to go along with Goog's _new_ plan.

To hell with that old hag's plot! Goog was going to gain his power _his_ way!

And with the boldness of an Amazonian anaconda snake, Goog bravely said. "I won't tell you _anything_, my king, unless we strike a _mutual_ deal."

For once in Kaname's current life, he was utterly, _totally_, and **completely** flabbergasted.

A deal?

_A deal? _

**With him? **

"Did you think this is just some little game, you young fool?" Kaname darkly hissed. "Do you think this is just some mere _child's game_?" Kaname looked down on the young Korean pureblood like he was an ant he desperately wanted to crush. "Tell me what you know – _now_!"

But Goog's eyes flashed red. A bravery he had _never_ felt before engulfed him, and he stared his idol straight in his unusual eyes. "I won't tell you a _thing,_ unless we make a deal as _equals_, my king."

_**What.**_

**Did**_**.**_

_**It**_**.**

**Just.**

_**Say?**_

Kaname had the feeling that he had been highly insulted.

_**Highly**_ insulted.

For this..._thing_...to **think** _**he**_ and..._it_... was on the _same_..._**level**_...was...

_**EXTREMELY INSULTING.**_

Like a forming maelstrom, Kaname felt a stony iciness form around his heart and soul.

The boy's fate was quickly decided in his mind.

The fool will die.

_**He will die after this moment. **_

So, ever so calmly, Kaname asked. "What exactly would this deal entail?" He humored him.

Goog's heart crowed. _See?_ All you have to do is stand your ground, and things work out just fine! His idol was a smart and cunning man, after all! So, surely, he understood what was truly happening.

As an old sun sets, a new one will surely rise.

So, without a trait of fear in his voice, Goog fearlessly bargained. "Your daughter's hand in marriage, my king." Goog said. "I desire your daughter's hand in marriage."

If nothing else, Kaname was _amazed_ at the fool's audacity.

_Really? _

His..._**precious**_ _**daughter's**_..._**hand**_...in...**marriage**?

_Really? _

"It's not like you lose anything, your highness." Goog oily betted. "Instead of you losing one foolish son, you would gain a wise one, my King."

_Lose a foolish one?_ Kaname coldly repeated in his mind. _Gain a wise one?_ Kaname just didn't care anymore. _Oh, I see._

**Enough was enough. **

"What made you think you could even _begin_ to _be_ _**my**_ _**son**_?" Kaname asked quietly as he began to slowly walk closer towards the soon-to-be-dead young pureblood. "What made you _think_ that?" He quietly whispered.

Like a bucket of cold water had fallen on his head, Goog felt a terribly feeling of dread rush down his spine. It was like he had just been switched from a pleasant dream to a blinding nightmare.

"My world is not a child's playground, boy." Kaname deadly whispered. "You wanted to _bargain_ in _my_ _world_ and not have the proper legal tender?"

Fearful, Goog took several small steps back, but like a monster from a fairy tale, his idol predatorily encircled him – cutting off all chance of his escape.

Kaname gave his son's rival a curiously cruel and queer smile. "When one bargains, one should know what the proper legal tender is in the land in which he wishes to trade." His voice was low as he taught the boy his _final_ lesson. "So, let me give you a farewell lesson on what one bargains with in _**my**_ _**world, **_you little fool."

Deep within his bones, Gook Song felt the intense dark fury of the Vampire King of the Far Eastern Realm. He lost his breath as his now-frightening idol stepped up to him.

"Power is my currency. _My_ _rules_ are _my coins_. And _**fear**_ is my _**credit**_." And as the King of the Far Eastern Realm lowly stared at the quivering young pureblood beneath him, Kaname's eyes became like a malicious ancient red moon. "And in this world, _you_ are nothing more than a mere _beggar_ to me." He darkly pronounced.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** Things be popping! XD But poor Goog! ;_; This won't end well for him! Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts in a delicious review! Short or long! I love them all! :)


	83. Chapter 83 Teach

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Even as the light morning sea breeze ruffled her complicated gisaeng hairdo, Korean Rebel Lady Sosono didn't care at all about what she looked like at this moment! Violently snapping her cell phone closed, Sosono closed her dark eyes and counted to ten in order to calm herself.

_Darkness be damned!_ For the first time during this entire plot, Sosono was unsure of what she should do. _What should she do? _

_What the __**hell**__ should Sosono do now? _

The Royal Korean Governor Byung Gi Kim just informed her that their _true_ divergence plan was already set into motion. Sosono knew the boy would meet his doom soon. However, at least it gave the rest of the rebels a few hours to play with so that they could get away. After all, the young Song was both bold _and_ **stupid** enough to think he was on that tyrant man's level. Thus, she was sure that young idiot would mess up terribly somehow. In fact, Sosono was so _sure_ the boy wouldn't be able to do his 'assigned part' well that she felt no guilt about his upcoming doom. At least, the Tyrant King would be distracted by the ..._sacrifice_...for a while.

So, in her book, it was all good.

But...damn it. Despite the sacrifice, Sosono wasn't sure if what she had planned _would_ go her way now.

Damn it. _Damn it._ **Damn it.**

Sosono's _first_ problem was that she had _not_ expected that the Royal Couple would have figured out that their children were missing _so_ _soon_. In fact, she had thought it would have taken them a few more hours to figure out that their children were gone, but for them to figure it out so _quickly_...

Sosono hissed her teeth.

Perhaps it was because the Kuran Princess was greatly injured during her abduction? As the royal children had yet to come of age, their protective child-mother vampire bonds were still active.

Sosono massaged her head. _Goodness_. Before all this, she had _strongly_ _informed_ Goog to _leave_ the princess as _unharmed_ as possibly, but when she found them in that stairwell – _the girl looked near death_. Just thinking about that big error nearly made her see red! By darkness, Sosono felt absolutely _no remorse _for sending that boy off to his death when she thought of it. Clearly, he was a liability. That fool didn't _need_ to hurt the girl if he had just used the pureblood poison correctly!

Nevertheless, another bad miscalculation on her part was that Sosono had not expected that the royal couple would work together so _easily_ afterwards. Byung Gi informed her that the massive pre-fight between them earlier had surprisingly quickly ended before it ever began. Sosono hissed her teeth again. _Damn it again_. She had also thought that the battle, and its aftermath between the two Royals would have given them more time. Perhaps a whole day or, at least, the afternoon.

Nothing was going as planned.

_I guess I underestimated a parent's love for their children._ Sosono blackly thought to herself.

With the information she had, she _thought_ that Tryant Kuran was like most vampire rulers in this regard. In their world, it wasn't uncommon for vampire rulers to be distant and disinterested in their children. So, with all the information she had gathered about the royal family, Sosono predicted that those two Royals would be totally focused on their internal war with each other that they wouldn't have any concerns with the state of their children until it became too late.

_Sigh._

Well, what did _Sosono_ know about a parent's love, anyway? She, herself, never had any children, even if once, an extremely long time ago, she _thought_ she would _finally_ be able to settle down and have some.

A strange feeling arose inside the ancient woman at her strange thought.

_My life is nothing but sacrifices, plots, and woes._ Sosono distantly reflected.

Unlike their human counterparts, the Korean Vampire Kingdom was always either under a foreign power or in a national state of rebellion. In its thousands of years of history, the Korean Vampire Kingdom only existed as a free and independence nation about four times with reigns of no more than forty years.

During her ancient youth, she had sacrificed _everything_ for her cause of freedom. She sacrificed her romantic life, her womanhood, and her potential motherhood in order to free her homeland nation from its various foreign rulers. She succeeded the _first_ time, and her name was highly honored by her people. Sosono had then selflessly placed her married brother on the throne and retired to a more _peaceful_ life.

But peace never lasts ago.

Decades later, a _new_ conqueror came to her land...and he was like a man dipped in black blood.

_Great King Kaname Kuran the I of the New Land of Wa. _

Sosono's dark heart felt extremely _tight_ when she remembered _that_ accursed man.

That vile monster had come into her newly freed land like a hellish hornet cloud. Within months, he butchered the new royal family and forced their young free nation into a servant state. Sosono had flown into a terrible vengeful rage because of it, and thus she had raised up revolt after revolt to fight against him.

But that vile beast _crushed_ each of her revolts like they were _nothing_.

So, Sosono decided to plan her _last_ long-range rebellion. During that time, she met the man she loved and lost the _most._ He was a man who was both fire and ice and Sosono desperately wanted to spend the rest of her existence with him. He begged her to not do this. _He had pled with her and begged._

However, she always justified herself.

_After she won_, Sosono promised him time and time again, _after she won then they could be together_. But, in the end, _everything_ that Sosono had done...was all for **nothing**.

Her last great rebellion... _miserably failed._ And her land was viciously re-conquered.

And after Sosono _lost_ so much, she still lost so much _more_. After Sosono's failed rebellion, that cruel bastard murdered her beloved before her very eyes and forced her to endure a private hell for thousands of years.

Sosono felt her fingers and hand quake as she recalled her misery. Nevertheless, Sosono felt a growing resolve within her. If it was possible that her new great rebellion failed...Sosono would sooner slit her own throat, then be placed back in such a cursed thing ever again. So, either she _succeeded_ in this, or she would _die_ because of it. This would be her final stand and the revelation of her ancient resolve! Never would she be trapped by such a thing again!

On the other hand, somehow, Sosono felt that this kidnapping plot of her wasn't an entirely sure thing. Sosono pressed her lips tightly together. Terrible doubts were starting to form within her. She witnessed this new tyrant Kuran's cunning and intelligence herself less than 48 hours ago. That man looked terribly _similar_ to her first enemy Kuran and with his concealed power... Sosono felt like she was dealing with the same evil bastard of so long ago.

_No. _

Sosono pressed her lips tightly together again.

_No._ This new Kuran felt even _more_ powerful than the first one when Sosono considered it. And what a scary thought _that_ was. It made no sense. And, _darkness forbid_, that ancient monster was alive and well in this world. Still, this new Kuran king was just like her old enemy but with all the privilege of intimately understanding this modern world in ways she just didn't.

And that, my friend, was _the_ major blind spot for Sosono. Many things today confused her and she just didn't understand all the new ideas and connections that were taken for granted as 'common' knowledge nowadays. Even simple things like the vampire hierarchy of today's world was baffling to an ancient soul like her.

In the old times, the hierarchy was simply human or vampire. There really weren't all these great distinctions as there were today. However, vampires could be either first-born or next-born with no bias to either form. After all, first born vampires were the 'originally evolved' types, while next-borns were the vampires born of the first-born ones – either through _the Change_ or by birth.

Sosono had been a first-born vampire. What they now call an 'ancestor' vampire. She had normal human parents, but she was not a normal human. The mystery of this was still confusing to her even now. But, even in the beginning, Sosono had always _known_ that she was different. All first-borns did.

But when her parents died by a bandit raid, and she was left to care for her two younger siblings. She had stupidly changed them into beings like her. For years, they had never forgiven her for it, always blaming her in making them into monsters, but when they had found others like them, they soon embraced their new natures. Her late siblings were next-born vampires and their children and their children's children and so on helped to create their unique race.

Still, in the olden days, a vampire strength was something unique to that vampire alone. First-born or next-born - it didn't really matter. There were next-born who were more powerful than first-borns vampires and vice versa. Thus, the power of a vampire depended on the vampire's will and wasn't restricted to something so foolish as bloodlines and classes.

But today was not like it was so long ago. Sosono nearly smirked at the odd change.

The current vampire hierarchy was quite unusual to her. The top of the pyramid was called pureblood vampires (Level A), followed by nobles (Level B), commoners/stable ex-humans (Level C), ex-humans (Level D), and lost ex-humans (Level E). In the old times, they would all be seen as simply being _next-born_ vampires of various power levels, however, these vampires of today took great pride in such _useless_ distinctions.

In fact, one would think that the many outliners in this supposed rock-solid Night Hierarchy would be _questioned_. _But, alas, fools never see._ Sosono smirked to herself. For example, by old time's standards_, human vampire hunters_ would also be considered first-born vampires to her, but the current standard didn't include those creatures as being like them. Sosono shook her head at the folly. The main reason why was probably because the hunters did not have _The Thirst._ Still, they were humans that had a high amount of vampire DNA, like Sosono had once been, and so Sosono was a bit unsure of what to think of them, _really_. Nevertheless, the hunters had their own categories for themselves, but it was interesting to note that there are certain types of hunters who could surpass the power of even noble-level and pureblood vampires.

In fact, recently (Well, _relatively_ recently. This story in question happened nearly one hundred ago!), Sosono heard that this rare type of vampire hunter had greatly aided in the final murder of a powerful _Kuran_ pureblood by the name of Rido Kuran! Sosono was highly amused by that when she came by the story. She had been _quite_ curious and looked for all the information she could find on it.

Unfortunately, the details about such an event were extremely hard to come by. (After all, the current Kuran Royal House had a man called Lord Senri Shiki in their services. As the Dark Lord of Vampire Media, the man was peculiarly good at _hiding_ information as well as broadcasting it, you know.) However, in her pastime online searches using Voogle (The vampire answer to Google), she learned one little detail on that mysterious tale!

Apparently, that notorious hunter came from the highly honored Hunter Clan of Kiryu!

How very, _very_ curious.

Sosono's mind spun as she thought more about this. And with the recent revelations, she really wondered _many_ new things.

Apparently, Queen Kuran had originally been true-love bonded with the last reminding Kiryu Hunter known as Zero Kiryu. Their engagement was a sorely reviled event within the Far Eastern vampire world at the time. Sosono didn't see what the big deal was, but a lot of the 'pureblood' and 'noble' factions had been strongly against the pairing and apparently murdered the man on his wedding day because of it. And with that murder, Sosono learned that the Hunter Kiryu Clan was no one. All of the members of that house was gone now.

_What a shame that was._ Sosono griped. Any Kuran murderer was a good fellow in her book!

Still, during her online search after the new revelations of that First Court Session, Sosono had tried to find a _picture_ of what that man looked like.

But by night! It had been like a quest for the Holy Grail!

_Nothing. _

She had found no pictures of him _anywhere,_ and she _knew_ she wasn't the only person who had this problem! Many vampires around the globe who had finished watching the First Court Session online and on the television used their various search engines to find this murdered true-love mate of the current Far Eastern Queen. A man who was not only an _ex-human_...but a vampire hunter! And the same vampire hunter who murdered a powerful Kuran family member!

Talk about family drama!

Still, despite the fact that the vampire hierarchy was becoming grayer day after day due to a variety of social factors (such as intermarriage between the various castes and what not), the fact that the late Kiryu was an ex-human wouldn't have been seen as a very bad thing...for common vampires anyway. The aristocracy was quite a different matter altogether.

Yet, because of King Kuran's not-really-subtle elimination process of all the pureblood vampires in his immediate realm, all the noble vampires were getting far too...cocky. There had been a renewal of vampire blood purity factions in recent decades. And the fact that a pureblood vampire, especially a pureblood vampire of one of the oldest and most honored pureblood clans of the Far Eastern Realm would _dare_ to true-love bond herself to an ex-human vampire hunter, who had _murdered_ a fellow member of her family..._well_.

Oh, what Sosono wouldn't _give_ if that man were to be currently alive! Sosono darkly grinned. Surely his living existence would cause _some_ trouble, eh?.

Still, she had other pressing problems to worry about.

The Wadaura Port shut down all travel. No ship – small or greater – could leave the docks. In old times, Sosono would have simply sliced off human heads and continued on her merry way. But such an act is unacceptable nowadays. People would actually _care_ of humans died strange bloody deaths now.

Nevertheless, Sosono and her rebel force needed to get out of this port – NOW. There was no time to lose on this and Sosono desperately wished to simply killed the humans which stopped her and simply be on their way. Yet, doing so would cause unwanted attention, and it would take two to three days to get to their home base. Unusual murders would surely alert the Royals to their previous location and if that happened...

By Darkness! Sosono felt the weight of the world upon her shoulders. She might be a cruel and calculating witch, but even she knew she couldn't lose all her 'men'.

So, what should she do?

* * *

**Chapter Eighty–Two: Teach**

* * *

**Present **

Night Lord of Korea, Joon Ho Song, _knew_ that things had taken a sharp turn for the _worst_.

At a minor distance, Joon Ho had been observing the intense conversation between his only son and the terrifying Far Eastern Realm ruler.

During the conference, everyone in the room felt a sense of grave unease and fear because despite the fact, their pureblood ruler wore a handsome smile and seemed relaxed in his body language, there still seemed to be a vibration of…_dread_….surrounding him. The reporters and Shikian Media personnel had quickly fled from his presence once the press conference was over. And, strangely, Joon Ho wanted to grab his son and rush them to the nearest exit as well. However, before he could act on that fearful desire, his son _recklessly_ approached the moody ruler and began their last countermeasure plot.

With his pureblood hearing, Joon Ho was able to hear the entire conversation between King Kuran and his Goog and now he _**desperately**__**wished**_ he had acted on this impulsive desire earlier.

By darkness, his son was going to be _**murdered**_ right in front of him.

Without thinking about it for a second, Joon Ho Song leaped in and shielded his son. His son was frozen _stiff_ with unknown fear, and when Joon Ho looked King Kuran in the eyes...he knew exactly why.

Deep within Joon Ho's very bones he felt a ghastly phobia grow within him. King Kuran's eyes were like a pool of dark-red blood. They blazed with the vindictive fury of a pitiless ruler. Waves of brutal energy and an atrocious feeling of malicious grand power vibrated off the highly enraged but somehow _calmly_ collected pureblood man.

The fact that King Kuran seemed _so_ expressionless and _so_ calm - despite his overall wrathful aura - made this entire situation _so much worse. _

By Night! To be so powerful and so frightening at such a young age….who or _what_ exactly was King Kaname Kuran? Joon Ho didn't know, and he had the feeling that _because_ he didn't know he was going to lose something extremely valuable to him in the next moment. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that the dreadful fear within Joon Ho was _blinding_, there was one thing on the older father's mind as he met the greatest threat of his long life.

Joon Ho Song was first and foremost a father. He was a father, and fathers should always protect their son.

And he would do whatever it took to do so.

Meanwhile, Goog Song felt chilling conflicted and alarmingly confused.

_How did this happened?_ Wasn't he the one with the most power in this situation? But Goog felt like he was in the presence of an ancient power that had an antique revulsion. His instincts were _screaming_ at him to flee and run far, _far_ away. _But he couldn't move._

Goog was frozen stiff. He could barely move any of his limbs and he felt like his blood had been replaced with cement. Goog had never felt such terrible power all his life. Not even his parents had this level of vampire power, and they were surely older than this pureblood ruler by at least a few thousand years!

Yet, despite all the logic to the contrary, Goog needed to get away from this powerful old predator, and he needed to do this NOW!

So, why did it feel like he was about to die?

Like time had slowed, Goog watched as King Kaname Kuran gradually lifted up his beautiful right hand and aimed it towards Goog's rapidly beating young heart. _Darkness forbid!_ He was aiming his hand towards Goog's heart! And the heart was only one of two places that could instantly kill a vampire at any level.

Goog felt like crying. He was going to die! By darkness, he was going to die! Goog felt like crying and _screaming_ and _**running**_ and _**weeping**_ -

But without warning, like living armor, Goog saw his haggard father jump before him – using his very body to shield him from his ex-idol's soon-coming wrath. In that single moment, Goog felt a deep love for his father that he had _never_ felt before and that feeling increased ten folds when he heard the man's next words.

"Please, my king!" His father cried. "He is just a child! He couldn't have known better!" His father loudly pled. "Spare him, my lord! Please spare him!"

A dark silence came upon the three.

The Far Eastern Vampire King's red eyes flashed murderously.

Oh, if nothing else, that little request by the _newest_ intruder of Kaname Kuran's personal space rubbed him _raw_.

And the fire of Kaname's vicious vengeance received more fuel.

_Two to die then. _

Still, Kaname instantly recognized the man. The to-be-dead fool's father – Joon Ho Song. "Spare him?" Kaname coldly repeated. "_Spare him_?" Kaname felt his murderous rage strengthen two-fold. "Spare this worthless fool when he _refuses_ to tell me the truth?"

"Please my king!" Joon Ho pleaded. "I know my son has committed a grave error but _please_, I'm begging you, _please spare him_!"

Kaname was not amused.

"Silence." He hissed. "And get _out_ of my way before I _**murder**_ you as well." Kaname blackly ordered. "By your son's own admissions, he stupidly helped to _aid_ in the kidnapping of my children and my - " Immediately. Kaname stopped himself from mentioning his silver-haired lover's name. That little bit of information wasn't something he wanted out just yet. "_And_ he is currently aiding the rebels by refusing to inform his king the full truth of the matter." Kaname fixed. "In fact, but telling me an obviously _false_ fabrication before, it could easily lead one to believe that he had a _greater_ involvement in these past vile actions." Kaname's blood-red eyes imperiously glowed as he darkly looked at both Songs. "That is treason and all traitors to my throne will be swiftly punished." He menacingly pronounced. "And instant death is my punishment." Kaname hissed.

His world was crashing down around him and Joon Ho _didn't_ know what to _do._

**His son**. Treason. Punishment. _**Death.**_

Just _thinking_ of those four things being connected to each other filled Joon Ho with a feeling of intense dread.

What could Joon Ho _do_ to save his only child? What could Joon Ho _say_ to save his only son? Between his terrifying trepidation and engulfing horror, Joon Ho's mind was blank. Blank. _Blank_. **Blank**. And hopelessly overwhelmed him.

Despair. Misery. Anguish. Despondency.

These words couldn't describe a _tenth_ of what he was feeling.

But without warning, the old father suddenly saw a solution out of this mess. And, by night, Joon Ho recklessly grabbed onto his _last_ chance. It was perhaps the most reckless thing he had ever done, but he did it anyway.

Joon Ho's tongue felt like it was nailed to the roof of his mouth when he faced his ruler, but he still found a way use it. "Then _I_ will tell you the total truth!" Joon Ho thoughtless said. "I will tell it!"

Kaname's inner vampire beast roared for blood, but his rationality quickly took over. Kaname's bright-red eyes flashed as he paused to think over what the man just said.

_Total truth? _

**It better be good. **

"Oh?" Kaname violently prompted. "Do go on." He blackly hissed.

Joon Ho felt his very life flash before his eyes, but he continued down his path regardless of the consequences.

_It was the only way._

"The real power behind the current kidnapping of your children…" Joon Ho quickly began, "…is the _Pureblood Korean Kim Clan_!" He truthfully said. "They are the ones behind everything!" He declared while searching for the light of pure shock in his ruler's murderous eyes.

The Far Eastern King's face remained expressionless.

Kaname's inner darkness growled. He had the feeling that he had just been _lied_ to…_**again**_.

And that wasn't a very good feeling.

"The Pureblood Kim Clan?" Kaname repeated in disbelief. "The weakest pureblood line out of all the Korean Purebloods?" He darkly asked. "Do you really expect me to believe such foolishness?"

The older Song could not say a word.

Out of all five Korean Pureblood Family Clans (Song, Han, Kim, Nang, and Tae), the Kim Pureblood Clan was the _weakest_. That was the main reason why he elected Byung Gi Kim to the position of royal governor of that territory vampire kingdom. The Kim Clan was utterly weak without his backing, and without it, they would continued to be _reviled_ by their fellow Korean purebloods. So, by allying themselves with him, they would have unprosecuted power over their internal foes. Therefore, it was _extremely_ _hard_ for Kaname to believe that such a thing was _truth_. Especially coming from a Song Pureblood Clan member.

In fact, such a thing sounded utterly _false_ to him.

_Humph. _

Like son, like father.

_Both will die._ Kaname decided. _Both fools will die – __**now!**_

_Father first._ Kaname raised his right hand again and formed it into a vicious claw.

Joon Ho's heart stop. He was telling the truth! Darkness be damned, he was telling the truth! "But it's the truth, my lord!" Joon beseeched. "_It's the bloody truth!"_

Oh, Kaname would tear him apart _slowly_. "Did you _really_ expect me to believe that such a helpless clan would dare betray me in such a matter?" Kaname growled. "Byung Gi Kim is one of my _best_ servants! To think that-"

Joon Ho fearfully interrupted him. "But, my King, how can they be powerless when they daily drink the blood of an _ancestor_ vampire?"

Kaname blood ran **cold**.

A silent bomb had gone off inside Kaname's enraged mind as he struggled to process what the fearful fool had just said.

"**What. did. you. just. say?**" Kaname marched out of his stunned lips.

Joon Ho's soul brightened. _Ah!_ This was it! This was his chance! If he told the whole truth, his son would be spared, and they could get out of this entire mess! Joon Ho's heart loudly sang as he hurriedly added. "The Kim Clan isn't powerless anymore, my lord. They daily feast on the blood of a powerful ancestor vampire!" He repeated. "And it is _she_ who is the true mastermind behind this plot!" Joon Ho bluntly admitted. "She had vowed to destroy the Royal House the moment she reawakened."

Kaname's mind was slow to process this latest information.

_An ancestor vampire? _

An _**ancestor**_ vampire was _behind_ _all of this?_

Either this was a lie of _worldly_ proportions or…

_But it was impossible!_ There were only three ancestor vampires left in this world. One was Biashara Bimnono, another was a hermit First American who was currently sleeping in Yellowstone National Park in America, and the last was him.

A fourth ancestor vampire? A fourth one existed? And she vowed to destroy his house and family? What type of threat was she to his fragile life?

Red eyes growing dim, Kaname looked at the nervous informer. "What is her name?" Kaname questioningly whispered. "What is she called?"

This is it! Joon Ho bravely looked him squarely in the eye and said a name that Kaname hadn't heard in ages.

"She is called Sosono, my king." Joon Ho told. "_Sosono_."

It was like a foggy spell had been weaved.

_Sosono. _

Immediately, Kaname felt like his ancient side had unleashed long forgotten memories that overwhelmed and shook his timeless soul.

_**Memory flash!**_ _Monster darkly grinned. "I just learned of who it was that destroyed your old home village, my child." He mockingly said. "They are the loyal servants to an Old Land Lady known as Sosono." He breathlessly whispered__**. End flash!**_

_Sosono. _The woman behind his first life's destruction.

_**Memory flash!**__ Bounded with bleeding ropes and bloody chains, his long-time enemy was forced to her bleeding knees before his feet. __**End flash!**_

**Sosono. **The joy he felt when he finally had the evil bitch at his feet.

_**Memory flash!**_ _"One day, Kuran," She hissed through a bloody eye. "One day, you will see this bloody, empty field of ghosts and corpses, and it will reflect the state of your black heart." __**End flash!**_

_**Sosono. **_The woman who prophesied his previous destruction.

Silence engulfed his mind, but Kaname felt..._nothing_.

Nothing. _Nothing_. _**Nothing**_.

_**NOTHING AT ALL. **_

Nevertheless, to the old Song, it was like a switch had been turned off within the Kuran ruler or something. Joon Ho saw that his ruler had gone..._blank_. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it. The cold fury and dark rage he had felt was suddenly gone. Joon Ho didn't know if that was something he should be thankful about but Joon Ho decided to chance it.

After all, he had nothing to lose really.

Joon Ho lowly bowed towards him. "Please my king." Joon Ho started – not daring to look his ruler in the eyes. "Please spare my son!" He begged again. "He didn't really do anything." Joon Ho quickly fibbed. "So, it is not his fault!"The older father added. "He was just..._forced_ to do this!"

A dreadful long silence passed between the three souls in the conference room.

After the odd moment passed, the fierce pureblood man slowly looked down at him. "Very well then." The king calmly said. "I will spare your son's life."

_**RELIEF! **_

_**Darkness blessed**__ relief_ flooded every part of Joon Ho Song's body like a rushing river.

He did it! _He did it!_ Joon Ho felt like crying! _He saved his son!_

"Thank you, my King!" Joon Ho appreciatively bowed further. "Thank you so very, _very_ much."

"Get up." The Far Eastern Ruler gently ordered.

Joon Ho did so without any hesitation –

But when he looked his ruler in the eyes once again...Joon Ho Song felt like the world's biggest idiot.

The man's eyes were still its deadly crimson hue.

_**NO! It can't be -**_

But before Joon Ho Song could finish that last thought, without warning, he felt a blindingly sharp pain through his tight chest. His painfully beating heart felt like it had just been grabbed by a ferocious iron first...

_Which it was._

King Kaname's slender hand was peculiarly poking out through his father's shattering chest. Goog's dark eyes widen with shocked horror. Despite the fact that Goog's body was immobilized, the horrified son let loose an _ear-piercing_ _scream_.

"DADDY!" He yelled in horror. "_DADDY NO_!"

Bright-red blood, screaming muscles, and broken rib bones protrude around the coldly starring dark ruler's arm.

His father looked like a pierced pig.

Bright-red blood started to drip down the _dying_ Joon Ho Song's paling lips.

_By darkness... _

To be **killed**...

In front of his..._only_...**child**...

_Like this..._

"...Why..." Joon Ho breathlessly asked. "_Why_?"

But King Kaname was pitiless. "Did you take me for a fool? You thought I would allow _both_ of you to survive after this treason?" He coldly asked. "Did you actually _think_ that?" The murderous king lowly snarled, his long white fangs glittered like diamonds.

Behind Joon Ho he distantly heard his son start to bawl, but the Serpent King paid him _no_ attention.

Turning his head around, Joon Ho saw his son's world shatter before his very eyes.

A terrible pain welled up inside the old father at that understanding.

By darkness, he was going to die.

He was really going to die.

He turned back around and wordlessly stared his murderer directly in the eyes. If he had been planning to kill him...why couldn't this monster have spared his son this cruel vision?

_Why couldn't he? _

But, strangely, it wasn't his soon-coming death that really pained Joon Ho Song. _No, not really._ Dying had never been a great fear for the older Song. He fears was much simpler. And his simple fear was coming true.

Joon Ho would no longer be able to protect his child and his dear wife from this world's darkness any long. He would no longer be the shield to protect them anymore. Joon Ho's soul trembled.

And all these world's darkness was embodied in one cruel monster man.

The dying rebel audaciously tried to say his _final_ living words.

"You...are...a..._monster_..." Joon Ho Song bloody condemned. "The...cruelest...of monsters..." Joon Ho's vision started to go very _dark_.

In a moment, this old pureblood would be nothing but _dust_.

King Kaname Kuran was _unmoved_.

Soullessly, the Vampire King completely ripped out the traitorous bastard's heart and using his vampire powers, he burned the bloody beating thing into ashes.

Still, as he stared into this dying man's eyes, Kaname...smiled.

"If you knew that in the beginning, then why did you dare to harm the loves of a monster_, fool?_" He impassively said.

**To be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** ;_; Sooo...what do you think about Goog's 'punishment'? RIP Joon Ho Song! Things just don't go like you think they might in this fic! Foreshadowing notwithstanding! O_o

Anyway, to answer a question I got (You guys really love your lemons/limes/citrus, I see! XD), I'm can't really answer such a question..._accurately_. XD Plus, we all know my record on that subject! Still, all I can say that the next KxS/Z lemon will occur...relatively soon... after Kaname and Yuki finds the three. That lemon is..._tragically_...**_romantic_**...in a way. ;) Still, I can't really say how that will happened because that will spoil many major revels before that, but there you go! Not that I'm out of my bag of twists yet, my dear readers! More to come! They always do!

Still, Viva la Summer Break! XD

_**Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long – and many – I love them all! **_


	84. Chapter 83 Seminar

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

_Sooooo...with everything going on…_Hanabusa mindlessly thought to himself._ Who thinks that now is a good time to inform Yuki-chan that her...current husband... is cheating on her with an enslaved but notorious man? _

Nay or Yea to the idea?

Come on! _Seriously!_

There was a long mental pause within Lord Hanabusa Aido as he seriously _thought_ about it.

**Yeah**.

Hanabusa didn't think it would be a _wise_ idea either.

Following behind the racing Takuma Ichijo to the Red Wing King's building of the Imperial, Hanabusa Aido nursed himself on troublesome thoughts.

What was he supposed to do with this information? To tell or not to tell - that is the question. Hanabusa pressed his lips tightly together as he re-thought it, but the answer always ended up the same.

_Sigh_.

While Hanabusa may have been a creature of the night, he wasn't born _last_ night!

Still, after finding out that his favorite punk son was going to be okay, Hanabusa had quickly turned his mind to other matters. He could always bounce like that, you know. Nevertheless, he felt bad for Takuma. _Extremely_ bad for him.

_Poor little Genji-kun._

Honestly, Dhampires were so rare that no one was really quite sure of their healing rates. It was always random and little Genji-kun looked a hot mess. At least, his Isamu would be staying at his side, and Hanabusa knew that Rima Touya would watch over the two boys. Despite the fact that they were technically on 'different sides', she was _still_ Genji's godmother. And Hanabusa had no doubt that she would watch over their injured children.

And in spite of everything, Hanabusa _this_ major problem to deal with.

Between he and Takuma, they discovered that Kaname-sama was secretly in a relationship with a Doll called Silver Night. _Well_, a 'relationship' was probably the politest way to say it. Hanabusa knew the two weren't exactly sitting down together drinking tea and playing a mild and friendly game of Monopoly, you know.

_Nope_.

Hanabusa would bet _**half**_ of his immense fortune and intellect that Kaname-sama was getting it on like wild donkey kong with the notorious man!

Hanabusa's nose almost bled at the unholy thought!

_Good Night!_ Talk about challenges. As Hanabusa thought back on it, a lot of things were finally making _more_ sense.

After Yuki-chan's shocking battle and separation from Kaname-sama a year ago, his pureblood king hadn't exactly been very...amicable...during the various courtly meeting and functions. (Takuma, the selfishly cheerful bastard, lucked out quite a bit on it with his 'vacation'.) Hanabusa had stood by and watched the dreadful anxiety and total fear engulf the royal court from a relatively 'safe' position night by night last year. In truth, Hanabusa saw more people lose their positions or get their heads lopped off in the past year than in the beginning of Kaname-sama's bloody reign. And that was saying something. The years before Kaname-sama's rise to power had been _quite_ bloody, and it was terrifying to see him return _somewhat_ to that time. The only time Hanabusa could remember Kaname-sama getting like this was when Yuki-chan was haunting the globe in her madness during those five lost years.

_Sigh._

Hanabusa needed to start rethinking his life. Nowadays, Lady Alcohol was his _best_ mistress, and she was the only thing that could get him to sleep regularly because of it.

However, while Hanabusa _**hated**_ to think it now but for the _good_ of the kingdom, it would be _best_ for everyone that Yuki-chan just..._went back to him._ _**Really**_. Yuki-chan was the only one that could curtail Kaname-sama's vicious tendencies and nature. Kaname-sama was _lost_ when he didn't have Yuki. Everyone knew that she was the _only_ light that kept Kaname-sama's cruel darkness contained.

Or...so he would have thought.

Looking back on the past few weeks and months, Kaname-sama had been _calmer_ and more..._serene_. His violent temper had been kept _in check,_ and he hadn't eliminated anyone – good or bad – from his royal court sessions for weeks! Thinking back, Hanabusa felt like hitting himself over the head! _Of course, _he should have realized that something had drastically changed in Kaname-sama's life! The man's change in personality was _so_ obvious! But then again, Hanabusa wouldn't have dreamed of this explanation for Kaname-sama's epic change in behavior in a thousand years!

Hanabusa felt like crying to himself.

The Doll of Desire, The King of Pleasure, The Master of Love, The Moonlight Siren - the one and only _Silver Night_ - was Kaname-sama's hidden 'lover'.

Why, oh darkness, _why_?

Nevertheless, while he didn't attend every royal court session (he still had his reputation of a lazy playboy genius billionaire to uphold), Hanabusa made it his duty to know what was going on in it at all the levels. And, because of that, for the past decades, Hanabusa heard _countless_ stories about the Number One Doll of All Times! By Night! The inner fights and duels over him had changed the power structure in the lower court too many times within that sphere of society. Hanabusa even had to clean up some of the mess that occurred over him in the General Assembly Level of the Far Eastern Court.

But to _think_ that such a notorious troublemaker got into _Kaname-sama's_ sphere of influence...

_Oh, Ms. Payback_, Hanabusa thoughtlessly imagined. _I hate you. Really I do. You're a mean old witch._

Long silence pause.

_Well,_ Ms. Payback replied in his depressed mind. _If you think I'm bad, you should meet my Sister Karma! She is more of a bitch. _

**Ah**. Alcoholic Induced Voices. What nice friends-in-his-head, they were.

Amazingly, despite this Doll's shifty influence, Hanabusa didn't even know what the notorious man truly _looked_ like! His various vampire masters had kept such information to themselves like an ancient dragon would hoard a precious treasure. And, _too soon_, Hanabusa would lose interest is such a taboo subject because another problem would suddenly need his attention (like they always do).

When it was possible to get a description of him - it was _generally_ conflicting. Some said he was unusually tall, while others said he was quite small. Some described him as having short raven hair, others said he had bright medium-length blond hair, and still others said he had long white locs. The only think that was the same was the description of his eyes. The man was said to have siren eyes that were a unique blend of platinum gray and plum hues.

But in all honestly, the descriptions of this Silver Night character were always changing, and, as of yet, there had been no _real_ picture of him that could settle the issue. All in all, all that Hanabusa knew was that the moment anyone had ever laid eyes on him - that person quickly ended up dead within two years.

_Wow._

And such a infamous person was intimately involved with his Kaname-sama?

Perhaps this was what those Mayans were talking about! Truly, Hanabusa felt like hiding himself in a dark hole somewhere and wait for all of this to pass over him.

Still, besides that, Hanabusa had a unique problem.

_What the __**freaking**__ hell was he suppose to do with this information? _

Hanabusa reflected that he _should_ tell Yuki-chan. It was the right thing to do, after all. But then he realized that _Kaname-sama_ definitely wouldn't be too pleased with him over that.

Kaname-sama was a notoriously private person, and he kept many secrets. In fact, Hanabusa had the deep suspicions that Kaname-sama was..._hiding_...the fact that he had attained such an ill-famed person in his dark possession. And if _that's_ the case...Hanabusa had no idea what to think about that if that was true. Nonetheless, he wasn't exactly sure that hiding this key information was truly a good thing in _any_ way. After all, wouldn't Yuki-chan be even _more_ _set_ to divorce Kaname-sama if this got out?

_Man! _Hanabusa just _didn't_ know! It was like choosing between _damnable bad_ or _hellfire stupid_ – there was no winning choice here! And he didn't even want to _think_ of what royal court life would be if Kaname-sama _lost_ Yuki-chan **forever**.

It was totally selfish of him, but Hanabusa would much rather Yuki-chan _go back_ to Kaname-sama despite everything...

Yeah, _yeah_. _He knows._ Kaname-sama _murdered_ her beloved late true-love mate Kiryu, **but**...

_But..._

Couldn't she just...you know..._forgive_ the guy and _move on from it? _For the good of the world?

_**MENTAL BITCH SLAP! **_

_**Wow. **_Hanabusa's usually dead morals suddenly awaken.

_Goodness_. It sucks having ethics and pity. If the shoe was on the other foot, would Hanabusa be so forgiving? The answer was a great big _hell to the no_...but then he wasn't so sure. After all, Hanabusa had lost _so much_ because of Kaname-sama...so why _couldn't_ he lose more?

Still, what was his other option? Should Hanabusa confront Kaname-sama over this?

Pish!

Even _imagining_ doing that made Hanabusa feel terribly ill.

Hanabusa sighed, and he came to a decision. It wasn't the greatest of decisions, but with the royal children's kidnapping and the royal couple's fragile alliance, it would be best if Hanabusa informed Yuki-chan of this _or_ confronted Kaname-sama about it _or_ put a bullet through his brain over this..._later_.

Later was good! Later was great! Doing things later was _love!_

And so, as Hanabusa finally neared the press conference location, he put _this_ private problem on the back burner of his mind.

Give three great cheers for Procrastination!

Later. _Later_. **Later**.

* * *

**Chapter Eight-Three: Seminar **

* * *

**Present**

Now was the time.

The time for plots, _lies,_ **schemes,** and _**conspiracies**_.

It was time for _**deceptions**_.

Silver looked himself over. Even though he preferred a clean look, his current appearance was as good as he was going to get. That middle-aged foreign pureblood woman did not come back with his change of clothes and toiletries yet. But Silver could wait no longer. In order for his various plots to be started, he needed to _get on_ with it.

The time of his pretended subservience came to an end.

_I am not a slave now._ Silver thought to himself as he looked himself over again. _Here_ - _I am __**not**__ a slave._

His previous submissive and acquiescent lover mask needed to be thrown away. It would not help him achieve his goals or survive in this fragile situation. And while he was _still_ a Doll, that didn't mean he had to let the rest of the world know it.

In his earlier days, Silver tried to keep his existence a secret as much as possible. Back then, he had foolishly hoped for the day that he would be complete and free, thus he didn't want the masses to become too familiar with his image. Yet as the years rolled on and his enslavement continued, his desire to remained unseen didn't change.

Unconsciously, Silver knew it was because of his...intense shame of his situation. However, consciously, Silver told himself it was because he wanted to maintain his weapon of 'mystery' against all his future masters and his weapon of 'exclusivity' with his current one.

His weapon of _mystery_ was such a dangerous but alluring thing, and it was based upon the fact that men _love_ to wonder.

A person's imagination can be so powerful that creating reality-based illusions was too easy. Their wonder and Silver's mystery was something that he could manipulate to his own advantage - and _viciously_ manipulate he did.

Still, his other weapon, the weapon of 'exclusivity', was one of his most _powerful_ of ones against his masters. Exclusivity was something that greatly appealed to the _ego,_ and vampires were nothing if not ego maniacs. The idea _"This is mine!"_ or the thought _"No one has what I have!"_ or even the feeling _"I am better than everyone else because I have this!"_ was something that Silver knew he could use to his advantage. So, with all of his masters, he tediously cultivated such thoughts in relation to himself.

And the main thought he grew in their minds was:_ "Silver Night, the one that everyone wants and desires, truly loves only __**me**__." _

Silver's red lips twisted.

That thought, _that very feeling_, was so influential that once Silver had tactically sipped that little bit of poison in his prey's system... he knew his war of seduction would soon be over.

Most people around the world – day or night - was not familiar with _true_ love. Oh, people throughout the ages have heard songs and written great love stories, but to see and feel the actual thing was quite..._rare_. In truth, Silver, himself had no idea was true love was, but he made it his duty to make the best _illusion_ of it he possibly could. And up until now, it worked.

His Master Kaname was a case in point.

Silver was carefully and slowly cultivating the feelings of love and adoration for him in him. In many ways, Silver felt he was _almost_ there, but _**something**_ always seemed to hold his master back.

Yet, Silver could never be completely sure of his success until his master said 'I love you' first. So, all of Silver's previous actions had been leading to the creation of such a moment. Whether the words was said in a moment of intensity or if the words were said by surprise – it didn't really matter to him.

Just saying those words – however they were said – would be enough. And at that point, Silver would know that he had _finally_ won.

Still, Silver was having his doubts.

Did not his master refuse to trigger his Doll Termination Spell? What exactly was he supposed to think of _that_? Vampires are notoriously selfish creatures. They would sooner destroy than share anything so...

Silver felt a strange twisting feeling inside him.

He blocked it. Just like he blocked his foolish desires and thoughts of earlier, because what did it matter?

_Yes_, his master had not caused his death and before all this the man had tried to form a love-bond with him. So, in truth, Silver had reason to think that the man did love him – somehow.

But perhaps if Silver was in another situation or in another time that knowledge would have _thrilled_ him. Perhaps it would have made him... _pleased_.

Yet the time for such feelings passed.

So until his pureblood king master returned to him and said those three words, Silver _wouldn't_ believe it. And even when Silver _did_ believe it – it didn't mean anything in the long run. He could not truly love him back, thus he could never truly feel anything for his Master Kaname.

Everything about him, after all, was a lie.

Still, Master Kaname wasn't the person he needed to be focusing on right now. The man not here, and so his various Doll spells wouldn't be activated for now. Such was a _marvelous_ blessing.

Also, Silver had the feeling that the criminals who had kidnapped him, and his master's children didn't know the fact that he was a Doll. Silver could bet his freedom on that. Since a Doll was a being lower than a Level E, it wasn't hard for Silver to think that he would have been casually killed in the aftermath. Useless things are quickly eliminated in the Night World. So the fact that he wasn't dead yet sort of proved his theory.

Thus, Silver knew that his kidnappers did not know that Silver was a Doll. _Thank the night for small miracles! _He could use this to his advantage.

Therefore, the time for him to pretend to be a _free_ (if not complete) man finally came.

And so he put n his new personality mask.

Until master came back and renewed their master-slave bond, Silver was 'free' to do as he pleased...for now.

Nevertheless, Silver knew this was only temporary. While Silver _knew_ his master wouldn't care much if he lost him (not matter what _Dolls_ are always _replaceable_), Silver _knew_ his master would come for his children. A child can _never_ be replaced, and Silver also knew his master dearly loved his two children (even if the care towards one was darkly twisted). Therefore, his master would be back to his life soon...and everything would go back to normal.

_Normal. _

Silver's lips twisted itself into an ugly grin.

Normal to be enslaved, to be an uncompleted being, to live a half-life of deep pain, and to be nothing more than a treacherous destroyer.

_So much to look forward to._ Silver thought nastily to himself. _So much to look forward to._

**It would have been better if he had just been murdered.**

Still, Silver only had _one_ thing to do. In fact, in _this_ regard, he was the person with the most power.

_**Survive. **_

_Yes. _Silver thought to himself. _I will survive._

And with that, he boldly walked out of his small yacht bedroom.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

In the dark shadows of the hallway, The Queen's Dark Hand, Yoshiro Yamamoto, felt his hot blood softly sing in his veins. All of his senses were on high. He could feel the dark excitement in the floor. He could smell the deadly agitation from the air. And he could practically _taste_ the future bloody thrills he was about to embark on.

The _Chase_ was about to begin! So it was only _natural_ for the loyal bloodhound to wait for his beloved huntress, after all.

Yoshiro could not prevent his smile. He wouldn't have to wait long! His extra-large fangs gleamed in the dim hallway's light.

Yoshiro was beyond excited! Excited! _Excited!_ **Excited!**

All too soon, his lovely dark lady queen and he would go out for a game of huhunting!`Throats were going to be slit. _Limbs were going to be ripped off_. _**Blood was going to flow.**_

To rip apart. _To shred._ To spill. _To slice._ To claw. _To mince._

_**To destroy...**_

The sounds of deaths, of murder, and of mayhem would be _their_ symphony. The colorful notes of pain and the tone of sicken screams would add to their concerto of violence. They would dance in chaos and sing the song of pure madness. They would paint this dying world with unending red sorrow. _Together_.

Yoshiro had _never_ been so happy in a long, _long_ time. His dark queen and he did not play _**their**_ worthwhile game for a long, _long_ time. _A so very long time, indeed._

But... things were changing again! Things were changing! And for _**once**_, Yoshiro was _glad_ at the change!

His lovely dark lady queen unleashed her dark fury for all the world to feel once again!

After all this time! _Moments ago!_ **Times ago!**

Yoshiro was excited! Excited! _Excited_! **Excited**!

The time of sadness was over. Now, the time of blood would begin.

That was why Yoshiro _lived_, you know! He lived to _destroy_ things, and he lived to destroy anything, everything, and all things that his dark lady queen wanted him to destroy. But when his lovely dark lady queen went back to the _stupid man..._she had become so _complacent_ and so **boring** and so _**sad**_ in the past decades.

Sad. _Sad_. **Sad** – she was!

Time and time again, Yoshiro thought about gifting her with a bloody beheaded head! To help remind her of what she once was, you know! That would certainly cheer her up, he believed. Still, Yoshiro greatly feared that he would never get to see her beautiful pale hands chock out the life of tender prey or rip out the heart of a foolish enemy _ever_ again.

Never! _Never_! **Never**!

And Yoshiro was so sad – so very, _very_ _**sad**_ - because of _that_.

But _now_, he **didn't** have to be _sad_ anymore...

_Because_...

**She was now here.**

Gone was the silly white dress and long white fur coat. Such innocent and pure colors _did not_ suit his perfect dark hunter queen. Yoshiro's dark lady queen was now covered from head to toe in dark leather. Black leather boots and pants with a dark-red leather jacket hugging every inch and curve of her feminine body. Her beloved old weapon – _the Crimson Throne_ – was strapped to the left side of her hips and in her hands, like a royal specter, was her _Artemis Rod_. She also wore a thick pair of sunglasses that covered her dark eyes, and her lips were painted a very bright ruby hue.

Yoshiro mildly wondered if her eyes matched her current lip color.

_He hoped so. _

He _loved_ it when her eyes were like a consuming malevolent blaze that ripped across a blood-red night sky.

But now it was time to start.

As a sign of delightful respect, Yoshiro took off his favorite black hat and dark glasses. He bowed to his beloved dark lady queen. His now-revealed short silver hair stuck up at various angles because he refused to routinely comb it.

"Are we going hunting, my dear dark lady?" Yoshiro hurryingly asked her.

Behind her dark sunglasses, Queen Yuki Kuran looked her best servant and ally in his rarely revealed true eyes.

Just like her late evil uncle, her Yoshiro had two-color eyes. His left eye was a dark brown, while his right eye was a dark purple.

Dark-brown and dark-purple...

_Just like..._

_And perhaps would have been like..._

And as a consequence, _this_ was why she always kept him beside her.

Her real silver-haired amethyst -eyed knight was forever gone from this world. But at least she had a terrible and frightening living _proxy_ of him.

Yuki felt her heart quickly die. Her emotions were _utterly_ _**gone**_ now.

Yoshiro only took off his hat and glasses when he wanted to encourage her on a path of destruction.

And he would get his wish now.

"Let us go hunting, Yoshiro." Yuki darkly said as she walked towards the private stairway that would lead to her awaiting helicopter.

Yoshiro bowed again. "Yes, my lovely dark lady queen."

Ah, the Huntress and her Bloodhound – a new dark chapter was about to be written.

_Poor World. _

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, if you think Kaname's scary now...wait until Yuki's parts! XD Ha ha! Of all the minor original characters of mine, my Yoshiro is quite hard to write! X3 He is something like...Yuki's loyal puppy...I guess (well, an extremely violent, half-insane, and amoral puppy)! Then again, Hanabusa is always good for laughs so...zen! XD

Anyway, thanks for the tips to improve, guys! I'm sure some of my readers have been suffering as I learn to better my writing during this stew of insanity, so for that I'm sorry. ;_; As this is my first fan fiction, please bear with me! I want to make sure I give you guys the best I can, and as I learn more about different writing techniques, I get too carried away with it! So, I think I'm going to 'shift' back to previous style, if that's okay! :D

But alas, on grammar errors... -_-' If you can, please point them out to me when you see them! I can't really see them until months afterwards so help in that regard will be most appreciated! I can change them sooner as they are pointed out!

And on a weird side note...apparently, VK the Manga – that we all know and love - is _**over**_. Yep! Hino-sama has finally finished it. But I'm like: O_o at the ending. Part of it was that I wasn't expecting it to end so soon. Goodness, I'm not going to spoil the ending for ya'll, but personally, I feel bad. Canon-Kaname is..._way nicer_...than my Kaname.

X_X

_What have I done?_ O_O I don't know if I pegged his character right in the beginning (or if I'm rottenly bias against 'dark cool characters'), but now I feel like I'm really off course with his canon-personality! XD Truly, I don't know what to think of my Kaname. I love and hate the guy! And I can't really change him for this fic to work and end logical. Still, what I have done, my poor readers? O_O I'm sure the Kaname-canon fans aren't liking me too well at this point! ;3

Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long – and about anything – I love them all! XD


	85. Chapter 84 Crave

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

_Oh boy!_ Princess Juri Kuran thought to herself. _I shouldn't have eaten those donuts._ She complained to herself.

After all, it was because she ate a _fishy_ one before meeting Silver was the reason why she was having _this_ **bad** **dream**.

Her stomach growled its disagreement with her theory.

Her 'healer', Hye Jin Song, went out of the room a moment ago. Instantly, Juri knew who the woman was – that evil jerk's mother – but she couldn't really do much about it! Besides, the woman was nothing like her evil child. _Wow_. Juri had no idea how such a nice woman like her had such a _rotten_ boy for a son! What bad luck for such a nice lady! Goog had injected her with _something_ and that something that made her feel sick. Within her, Juri could feel her body struggle against whatever was in her system, but she knew it would be a few days before it was completely out of her, which wasn't good at all.

Juri's mind whirled.

For the first time during her life, Juri Kuran was _scared_ and _**helpless**_. Mama and Papa kept her safe – always. So she had never been scared _and_ helpless at the same time before. Mama or Papa was always there, and Haruka was never far behind so she never felt helpless in _anything_ before.

She was truly scared for the _first_ time in her life.

The _only_ silver lining to all this was that she wasn't alone.

Turning to her side, Juri saw her deeply sleeping twin brother. And Juri didn't know what to correctly think or feel about this situation. Part of her felt _terrible_ for her brother. Mrs. Song told her that Haruka got beaten up pretty bad, and he _looked_ it. Thus, he would require far more sleep and rest than her to get better. The dreaded Goog got him _good_, and Haruka didn't have Silver to protect him like she had.

Still, Juri was also _quite_ angry with him! If it wasn't for Haruka and his _stupid evil lies_ then this entire crisis wouldn't have happened. Juri wouldn't have saw or _thought_ of _really stupid things_ and end up in this mess!

She remembered his words._"Our precious _'_papa'__ is __cheating on mother with another man__!" _

_Lies!_ All of it was _**lies**_!

Silver had _never_ said –

And Papa would have _never_ –

Lies, _lies_, **_lies_**!

_And_...and...Haruka _always_ complained and disliked Papa - so it wasn't hard for Juri to think that perhaps he was _lying_ about all that!

_Yes_. Yes, that was it! Haruka was lying! After all, Haruka _always_ did look for the _absolute worst_ in their father and it was far better for Juri to believe that was true than face reality right now!

Still, if what Juri thought was true then why did it ring _false_ in Juri's young heart? Because before all this, she saw that Silver had _affection bites __on his neck. _Just like Mama would have some from time to time from Papa and usually when they..._did it._

_Ugh_. Juri massaged the side of her aching head. She _did_ _not_ want _that_ image of her parents..._doing it_...inside her head now. _Eek, gross!_ This was sooo not the time for it! And _no_ kid wanted to think on that...subject! Sure, _logically_, that's how...she and her brother..._got_ _here_, but to really _think_ about it...

Like all children, it gave Juri the _shivers_.

But to think that Papa and Silver...did those types of acts together...it didn't make her feel _embarrassed_ like she was with her parents. _Not at all._ In fact, it made Juri..._furious!_ She felt greatly betrayed by _both_ of them if it was all true!

...And if it was _really_ true, Juri didn't know _who_ to be angrier at – her father or Silver – but she knew she was going to explode on _someone_.

Which wasn't good either in this dangerous situation.

Still, because Juri was currently helpless and didn't know what her future held for her, Juri's mind seemed to completely focus on this _poor_ subject.

Papa _couldn't_ be in love with Silver, could he?

_Could he? _

Sure, Mama was being _mean_ to him now - and Juri thought Mama had every right to be mean to him if what Mama was saying about him in the First Court Session was true – but that didn't mean that Papa could up and _cheat_ on her with another person!

But if Papa was _truly_ in love with Silver...why was he against Mama's act of divorce?

Juri was totally confused by that.

If what Haruka said was true, then wouldn't Papa _want_ to divorce Mama and be with Silver forever if that's what he truly wanted?

But if Papa was fighting to keep his marriage to Mama, that could only mean that Haruka was lying, right?

There were so many questions that Juri craved answers to.

Still, Juri was _smart_ enough to know that she would never get any answers if she didn't ask the _only_ person that could answer them, and so Juri made herself an unusual resolve.

The next time she saw Silver, Juri was going to ask him about his _true_ relationship with her father, and she would let the cards fall where they landed.

* * *

**Chapter Eight-Four: Crave **

* * *

**Present **

Of _all_ the people Sosono did not expect to see freely walking about on her escape yacht, the king's secret silver-haired lover wasn't high on her list.

For a moment, Sosono was totally flabbergasted.

Shouldn't he be, you know, bounded, bloody, and chained somewhere deep inside the ship? Wasn't that in _Standards of Kidnapping 101?_

By Night, Sosono was _surrounded_ by idiots! Complete and _utterly_ _**stupid**_ _fools_!

Still, despite the fact that her people were woefully lacking in common sense, the man didn't look like he was planning to get away. Which made Sosono even _more_ puzzled. Shouldn't kidnap victims be _trying_ to escape? Wasn't that how it worked? Yet, regardless of that thought, that odd man was just..._standing_ there by the yacht railings. Like he was simply waiting for someone or for something to do.

Sosono massaged her forehead. _I don't know what is going on anymore._ She tiredly thought to herself. Perhaps she fell into a dream or something?

Nevertheless, his beautiful eyes seemed totally unfocused as he causally looked at his new surroundings.

There were hundreds of ships in the Wadaura Port – ranging in size, function, and purpose. Wadaura Port wasn't a typical vampire-owned port, but it was one of the few places where that the mega rich could park their awe-inspiring boats without much fanfare. It was one of the reasons why Sosono decided on sea travel. It wouldn't be what her enemy would expect, and she could use the humans as a shield. Hiding in plain sight one could say. However, there was a great force field barrier located near the entrance that prevented any ship within the port from leaving. Hundreds upon hundreds of human workers were cursing up a storm about the port lock down, and Sosono _knew_ she wouldn't be able to control herself surrounded by such smelly pitiful creatures.

It would be easy for Sosono to tear down the energy barrier _herself_ but doing such a thing would alert the Royals to their location. But if she stayed here, she knew the Royals would eventually send their men to check this potential location. Thus, she was damned if she did something and damned if she didn't.

How in the world was Sosono going to get out of here but _not_ cause a curious stink over it?

As of yet, she didn't know.

Still, Sosono had a new problem to deal with and that problem was embodied in one strange long silver-haired man. Clearly, he was deep in thought about something, but Sosono had no idea what to think about that! His freedom and his escape were..._**just right there**_...and all he would have to do was hop over the railings to flee... but he just _stood_ there like he was _waiting_ _for_ _someone_.

Sosono continued to silently stare.

Really?

_Truly? _

Now, Sosono wasn't about to let the man get away. The time for that has surely passed. Therefore, even if he _did_ try it, she would have quickly dragged him back on board (missing a few key pieces if necessary).

But if he was just going to _stand_ there...

_Wow. _

Sosono was quite baffled on this one to be certain. She wasn't sure how she should react. Being a rebel leader all her life had made her something like a genius tactician, so she could recognize a plot or a chance better than most people (and was the main reason why she had lived so long). But even though she was a powerful tactician and cunning politician in her own right, she was _also_ a woman. And sometimes, there would come along a man into her life that would be her inexplicable weakness.

_**Memory flash!**__ "Who are you?" The lovely silver-haired man growled out. His deep voice nearly made Sosono __**giddy**__. Still, this man's eyes were the purest of amethysts Sosono had ever seen. Those glorious orbs shone brilliantly like crown jewels, but the power behind that firm gaze was intoxicating in its intensity. __**End **__**Flash!**_

_A man, indeed._

Still, if Sosono were to be completely honest with herself, her heart had skipped a few beats when their eyes had met the first time. The intensity of his emotions and the power of his resolve left her _breathless_. And for that brief moment in time, she was deeply remained of her dear –

_No! _Sosono growled to herself. _Now was __**not**__ the time to think on such things, my dear_. _Focus on this newest twist! _

Yet, without any warning, the silver-haired man _acknowledged_ her hidden presence. Sosono was slightly caught off guard by that, and she could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears as he turned around to face her. In the next moment, their eyes meet.

Dark twin _gray_-_plum_ orbs clashed against deep black eyes and for some strange reason - Sosono felt very..._let down._

His eyes weren't as _shinning_ as she recalled. Sosono was somewhat disappointed, but before she could go on with that emotion, there was a dark flicker in his eyes and Sosono was suddenly on _edge_.

The way he looked at her was very...**stimulating**. But it gave Sosono reason to pause. She tried to logically examine his possible intentions, but her swift mind wasn't coming up with any good theories.

_But by the heavens._ Sosono thought to herself. _I'm a pureblood vampire and an ancient one at that! So why do I feel so...__**unsettled**__ by that simply look? _But before she could further ponder that odd thought of hers, this _strange_ man decided to speak.

"Ah." He lowly said. His smooth voice felt so much like rich black silk that it took much for Sosono not to shiver. "I finally have the pleasure to meet the true _Lady of Power_ here." He continued. "To what do I owe this honor?" He asked. Despite herself, Sosono couldn't help but feel pleasantly warm inside because of his words.

_Lady of Power_ did he say?

Why yes.

Yes she was - at the end of the day...

...But how exactly did _he_ know that?

Technically, Wan Soo Kim was the 'leader' of this rebellion. However, everyone, other than her, knew that the woman was just a figurehead for her own icy ego. Even her youngest son, Min Chan, knew it. Wan Soo was the type to simply desire the all accolades while Sosono had to do all the hard work in planning and implement this plot.

And it was all due to the last punishing curse of The Tomb of Forsaken she was imprisoned in.

**_Bah!_**

Despite Sosono's immense power and insight, she cruelly _enslaved_ to such a lower being for _life_. It was _one_ of the many reasons why Sosono wished painful death on her 'mistress'. That and the woman's bad breath. So, for now, Sosono had to act like a mere servant to the cold but incredibly stupid woman who then had the sheer _gall_ to take credit for all of _her_ hard work.

If only Sosono could find someone to _kill_ that clueless harlot so that she could be _free... _

_But_ that was neither here nor there.

Besides, flattery got nowhere with her, even if it was _true_ flattery.

Sosono darkly glared at the mysterious silveratte. "I don't like you, boy." She insulted. "You are not a _normal_ vampire." Sosono said as she waited for his reaction. Most men with their fragile little egos would lose it at that. Thus, she wondered how this odd little creature would response to her small test. Was he like most men and thus _disposable_ to her? She was quite curious to that answer.

Silver Night raised one of his delicate silver eyebrows at the unknown woman's _blunt_ insult.

Well, well.

Silver had met this type of female character before, so he instantly recognized it. Thus, he knew how to get into her good graces. She was a highly independent and arrogantly prideful woman. However, what made her unique was that Silver had the feeling that she could 'back up' her pride.

Before his Master Kaname, Silver had never interacted with pureblood vampires. His kingly master was truly the _first_ for him, and his massive power was something that he had been truly amazed by at first. Silver thought that was how all pureblood vampires were – overwhelmingly powerful. However, with his previous interactions with 'normal' purebloods it was clear to him now that Master Kaname was in his own category.

Honestly, Master Kaname was _the_ most powerful person he had ever met in his life. That fact alone was enough to make Silver quickly decide that he should be 'loyal' to the man during this crisis. And while he was _slightly_ ashamed to admit it, there was a feeling of proud glee within Silver whenever he secretly _manipulated_ their relationship.

It was like having the mythical Watatsumi Ryujin Dragon within the palm of your hidden hand.

Still, Silver unusual ability (not unlike human vampire hunters) to differentiate the power levels and classes of vampires were starting to kick back in. On this yacht, Silver detected _eight_ purebloods. Two of which were unhealthy (which Silver assumed to belong to his master's children), five that were powerful in their own right, but there was _one_ that felt like his master's though..._muted_...somewhat.

Thus, Silver had to make a few quick decisions and changes to his plans. His master's children had no chance of escaping with him. They were obviously too injured for that. However, they were still the link to his survival. In the event that his master _did_ come for them, Silver knew the man would question him as to their fates during this time. Therefore, Silver couldn't really abandon them or treat them too badly in a show of 'comradeship' with these rebel kidnappers.

In fact, selling out the royal twin children wouldn't be beneficial to him in any way...but 'caring' for them had its own unique disadvantages.

_Sigh_.

Silver knew his survival would be a precarious exercise. He needed to be 'loyal' to three different sides - the children, his master, and the rebels – but he also needed each side to feel that he was 'more loyal' to them then he was to others.

How exactly was he going to _accomplish_ this?

The children would be the easiest to deceive in this matter, though. Thank the Night for that! His previous interactions with them had allowed him into their trust, but even with that - Silver wasn't _entirely_ certain. While Haruka was a wild card, the boy knew that Silver was his father's 'lover' before he left the King's Palace. Therefore, Silver could expect certain things from him when they soon met. However, Juri was of the opinion that he was her father's 'bodyguard'. Silver wanted to kick himself for his idoicy! He was _sure_ that if he had told the girl the truth about his relationship with her father _beforehand,_ then she wouldn't have been so shocked about it and run right into this horror.

But he didn't.

He _wanted_...he just wanted to _feel_...like...a...

Silver crushed the thought. Never mind that. Focus, _focus_.

Still, the fact is that before all this, Juri seemed to figure out that he was _sleeping_ with her father – a fact that would certainly traumatize such an innocent girl – and he hadn't been able to explain himself to her in any way so far.

Therefore, while Silver wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting the children again (especially in such a crisis), at least he had some things to expect from them.

His master was another matter _entirely,_ but because he wasn't _here..._Silver didn't need to worry about _him_ just yet.

Nevertheless, it was these foreign rebels that Silver _**needed**_ to focus on. So far, Silver had met three personally. The first one had carried him onto this ship - his stony hands lustfully roamed his body _without_ his permission. It had taken much for Silver not to react, but he felt..._sick_. Master Kaname had never touched him like that man had. This man who smelt like stone and ice touched him like one would touch a new toy – a thing to play with – and Silver felt very ill because of it.

How strange.

He'd been touched, caressed, and _**taken**_ in far more violent and disrespectful ways, but he had never felt so..._violated_ before. Even when those things had commonly happened...Silver had been able to shrug it off as a basic operational hazard. After all, personally, Silver had been raped seven hundred and sixty three-no-_four_ times throughout his life - his Master Kaname being the latest doer behind the deed. Therefore, it wasn't like Silver _wasn't_ used to being violated in more vicious ways.

But for him to feel so..._desecrated_ and by something so _small_...

_I don't understand._ Silver thought to himself. _I don't understand why either._

Quite strange, indeed.

That man who had so _disturbed_ him had gone away after being called by an unknown woman and Silver had felt extremely _relieved_ when that happened.

Still, the next pureblood that he met was that of a middle-aged woman, and Silver couldn't feel any _evilness_ from her. That was strange because she _was_ a part of this whole mess so it didn't make much sense to him. Yet, Silver's insights were hardly wrong, and so he used his mask of 'honorable young knight' on her and it worked.

Silver remembered the bashful blush on her face, and he was immediately remained of his best owner, his late Mistress Megumi. Silver knew the woman was out of her depths here, and he felt kind of _sorry_ for her. He didn't see good things in her future, and that thought chilled him.

Silver didn't want history to repeat itself.

However, by meeting this third rebel pureblood, Silver knew he had to completely change his _intended_ game.

_Goodness._ Where are these dragons of power _coming_ from?

Had Silver not interacted with his master previously, without a doubt he knew he would have been scared senseless by such an overwhelming woman. This woman was exactly like his Master Kaname. She was as strong, powerful, and prideful as he was. Thus, if Master Kaname was like Dragon Watatsumi Ryujin, then this pureblood woman was like Dragon Wani.

Thus, with Silver's unusual ability to detect vampires, he knew that she was approaching him a while ago, although she was trying to keep her aura 'dim'. But he played along and pretended not to notice her approach - waiting for the right time to start his mental game of wits against her.

However, he was not expecting that her first words to him would be so insulting.

Silver nearly grinned.

_She was testing him._ His instincts hissed. Women _always_ love to test men, after all. The dance between the two genders was so rich because of it. Therefore, Silver decided that he would pass her test with _unusual_ colors.

Let the game begin, then.

Silver lowered his eyelids like he was deeply amused by her insulting comment. "Normal is quite a relative term isn't it, my lady?" He quietly said. He made his voice like the smoothest of silks as he played along with her. "But it is really so obvious that I'm _not_ normal?" He asked placing on his perfect lips a dark grin.

Unexpectedly, Sosono's instincts purred at his _peculiar_ answer.

Most men, especially lower-born vampire men, would have cowered before a pureblood vampire woman of her caliber. Fewer still would dare to insult back (and she had killed fools for such disrespect). However, strangely, it felt like this man was..._pleased_...with her insults - as if he enjoyed her minor barge against him.

How..._perplexing_.

_I like this man._ Sosono suddenly thought to herself. _He is not like other men._

So, she tried again. "How long have you been awake and why aren't you trying to escape?" She accused. "Any fool with half a brain would have been gone by now, but it takes a _special_ type of fool not to recognize a golden opportunity when it is right in front of them."

_She's sassy._ Silver thought and his amusement towards her turned genuine. "Oh?" He raised one of his elegant silver eyebrows. "I'm quite sure such fools would have done so, but I thought it best to stay put here." He smirked. Then there was a brief flash of his dark amusement that brightly gleam through his intense purple-gray orbs. "However, I'm a _unique_ type of fool, my lady." He whispered.

Their eyes met again, and, _amazingly_, Sosono's heart skipped a beat like it had the first time she laid eyes on him.

But this skip was quite..._different_.

_Well. _

Sosono growled. "You seem to think that I won't kill you for stepping out of line, boy." She causally threaten, wanting to see..._something_. A weakness, a fear – something that she was _familiar_ with because how he was acting _wasn't_ familiar to her at all.

It was almost like he was seeing her as a _woman_.

Okay, that wasn't really a good explanation of how she felt. Of course, he saw her as a woman, he had eyes after all! But..._wow_. Sosono was internally flustered. _By heavens._ She was so used to being seen and treated as many things in her life rather than as a _lady_ that if felt _strange_ being treated as such.

She was always viewed as a great leader, a fighting soldier, a genius rebel, and now she was viewed as a loyal but powerful 'servant' or an 'old hag', but it was rare – _extremely rare_ – for her to be treated like...a _woman_. Like a woman whom an incredibly handsome but extremely mysterious man was _interested_ in - in more ways than one.

Right now, she felt like they weren't in a space where they were kidnapper and victim _or_ pureblood and other _or **anything** _like that. Somehow, she felt like they were just...man and woman dancing the age-old waltz.

Nevertheless, the man's eyes continued to glow. "I never thought that, my dear." He lowly purred. "After all, I am here _because_ of you."

Eyes slightly wide, Sososo shot out. "You think you are _safe_ because of that?" What gall!

"Of course not." Silver quickly said. "After all, do you not hold all the power here at your hands?" Silver smiled. His elegant snow-white hand over his heart as he shamelessly stared at the pureblood woman right in her black eyes. "Therefore, _you_ are the one that will decide whether or not I live or die today."

Sosono stared. Everything he said was _true_ but _not true_ in many ways.

She really didn't know what to make of him.

Meanwhile, being the expert seducer that he was, Silver saw everything about this situation very clearly. And what made his deception so useful was that his 'victim' actually believed _they_ were the ones leading and in control in the game. In truth, this latest victim of his was nothing more than a _puppet_ who didn't know that they had strings.

Still, she was a woman of _great_ power. **_However_**, there was a distrustful and trapped aura surrounding her. Silver realized it immediately when he talked further with her.

_She is somehow bound like me._ Silver mentally grasped. _Something is enslaving her. _

_What_ that something was – he didn't know. But that wasn't key to his tactic. And with this new knowledge, he knew the prefect mask he could wear for her.

The mask of the dark and dangerous liberator. To her, he would be that undomesticated creature that could either be her knight in shining black armor or her dark demon warrior with a tempting offer.

**Or...** _her_ perfect blend between the two.

And another thing...

"What ails you, my lady?" He unexpectedly asked. Even though she was a woman of great power, Silver instantly knew she was also a woman who had a _problem_. And shouldn't the man of her dreams be able to _solve_ her problem? "Perhaps I can help." Silver smiled at her.

But Sosono blinked.

Her defenses went up! _There is some type of trick here_. Sosono thought to herself. _Some type of trick and I will not fall for it!  
_

Sosono accused. "One would think that such a ..._close_...servant to the king would be more loyal." She snapped. In her mind's eye, she vividly remembered the _night _this man just had with her _enemy_. She didn't think he knew that she knew of what he had done with him. This man was trying to fool her and thus she would make it _clear_ that she couldn't be fooled. "Why do you want to solve _my_ problems when you so clearly serve the tyrant in such _personal_ ways?" She hinted.

Silver's eyes flashed. He immediately knew what she was suggesting about his relationship with Master Kaname, but he didn't think she knew what such words reveled about _her_.

Was that..._envy_ he just saw in her eyes?

Oh, Silver knew _exactly_ what to do now.

Silver gave her a lazy smile. "I serve nothing but _power_, my lady." He purred his answer. "And the greatest power in this sphere of the world is the Kuran King, no?" Silver said. "It is his children whom you have kidnapped, thus wouldn't it be in my best interest to ensure that they are fine regardless of the matter?"

However, Silver's gray-plum robs became suggestively wicked as he winked at her. "However, my dear Lady of Power, the one who holds the ultimate power in the end...is the _only_ one who will **_rule_ **me." He carnally hinted.

Silence descended between the two as they both tried to _process_ what Silver just said.

And when her brain turned back on - Sosono felt _faint_.

_Wow._

_Where...Is...My... __**Fan**_? Sosono stammered to herself. Really, where was it?

_'The one who holds the ultimate power in the end is the only one who will __**rule**__ me_.'

What exactly was he _suggesting_? And why oh why did all of these..._dirty_...images come into her mind just now?

By darkness, this man was _just_ like her beloved of so long ago. Mysterious, _unknown_, and _**forbidden**_ – but perhaps willing to aid her and only her because of _who_ she was.

Without thinking of it any further, Sosono decided to accept this little fox as he was - _for now_ - and she gave him her hand. "This Lady of Power is called Sosono of the Old Land." She greeted.

Silver gave her a roguish smile. _Ah, traditional vampire custom._ She was _so_ similar to his master in so many different ways because of it. In another world, the two could have been friends, siblings even. Yet, he gave this _Sosono_ a polite nod and with low bow he gently took her hand into his.

"You will know me as _Shigeru_." He said, and then Silver laid a chaste kiss on Sosono's extended hand.

_Amazing_. Sosono thought. _Wow, again. _This man's smooth lips against her naked hand felt like the smoothest of fires...and Sosono wondered if _this_ was why mothers told their children not to touch the _causes_ of flames.

Still, even if Sosono didn't consider herself a 'real' woman, and even if she thought of herself as just a leader and a symbol of her cause– it felt quite nice to be been treated like a lady who could be _desired..._from time to time.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, Back At the Imperial Hotel... **_

"So," Hanabusa Aido said to those in the room. "I don't think this kid is going to be okay now."

Kaname-sama carefully shrugged off the blood from his hand while Takuma Ichijo gave him a blank stare.

_Really, Hanabusa?_ The man's green eyes seemed to say. _That was the best you could come up with? _

Well, what was he _suppose_ to say, if not the obvious?

Goog Song seemed to be painted with the fresh color of bloody ashes. Large bloody tears were streaming down his pale face and only one word could be heard out of his lips.

"_Daddy_." The teen constantly repeated. "Daddy..._daddy_...**daddy**..."

...And Hanabusa had a feeling that his next word was going to seal this kid's poor fate.

"_Daddy...**daddy**...daddy..." _The broken boy continued to chat. _"Daddy...daddy...**daddy**..." _

_Oh, Kami._ Hanabusa massaged his head. It was like history was repeating itself, and even _he_ was starting to have **_flashbacks_**.

This was _so_ not something he need to see right now.

Yet before he could tell the frighteningly calm pureblood king his newest discoveries, Kamane-sama causally asked his Right and Left Arms a simply question, "What major travel spots are within _fifty_ miles of here?"

Hanabusa blinked. _What?_ But he blurted out the answer in less than a second. "Not much, my king." He answered. "You have Miat Station in the East, an airport in the North, and Wadaura Sea Port in the Southeast."

Kaname-sama's blisteringly red eyes dimmed back to a ruby-chocolate hue. "If you were a _Korean_ traitor, which method would you chose as your escape route – air or sea?" He lightly asked.

"Air." Hanabusa quickly admitted - utterly confused as to what was _really_ going on. "If I was dumb enough to cross you, I would want to get away as fast as possible, and air travel is the fastest there is."

"_Daddy...daddy...daddy..." _The boy just wouldn't _**shut up.**_

"Makes sense." Kaname-sama tonelessly said. "You always make the best of sense, Hanabusa."

Hanabusa sweat-dropped. Somehow he was sure that Kamane-sama didn't mean that as a _good_ thing.

"Inform Yuki to send her ravens to that Northern Airport then." Kaname ordered. "I need to go. Akatsuki is surely ready for me now."

The two blonds simply stared at him.

"Ahhh, Kaname," Takuma sheepishly said. "What should we do about this child? We have reason to believe that he was involved in your son's kidnapping."

"Oh. _I know_." He pleasantly said. "And not just the Songs, but the Kims as well." Kaname-sama lightly said as his ruby-chocolate eyes dimmed all the way back to a natural dark-brown color. "In fact, that entire court is not to be trusted at this moment. So please inform Governess Altantsetseg Tater of Mongolia to watch over him until I get back." And then a cruel look entered his dark-brown eyes. "I believe _Haruka_ will need a new practice dummy after all this." He said.

"_Daddy...daddy...__**daddy**__..." _

Kaname-sama loudly sighed. "How could a son and heir of _**mine**_ fall to _its _pathetic actions_?_" He maliciously hissed as he glared down at the broken child. "Haruka will _definitely_ need special training once this is over...but now let me go."

_Oh._ Hanabusa thought. _This does not bode well._

* * *

_**Simultaneously, back at the Wadaura Port Yacht...**_

Im Dae Han looked at his _favorite_ family member.

His dear sweet AH-75 Apache Helicopter gleamed in the new morning sun. It was a four-bladed twin-engine attack helicopter with reverse-tricycle landing gear and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. The helicopter was armed with 30 mm automatic M230 Chain Guns that could be slaved to the Gunner's Helmet mounted display and be fixed in a locked firing forward position and controlled via the Target Acquisition and Designation System (TADS).

_What a lovely daughter she was._ Im Dae named her _Apa_ for short.

Somewhat close by _Apa_ was his brother's helicopter, _Mike_, a Mil Mi-34 Helicopter.

Im Dae rolled his eyes. Can't really compare the two.

Soo Bin Han's _Mike_ was a large helicopter gunship that was more of a low-capacity troop transport helicopter than an attack gunship. The body of the helicopter was heavily armored and could resist impacts from .50 caliber (12.7 mm) rounds from all angles, including its titanium rotor blades. The cockpit of his attacking transport helicopter was heavily armored with titanium and could resist impacts from 37 mm cannon rounds.

_Sigh_. Leave it to his brother to choose the _womb_ of helicopters as his favorite.

Why was his brother...so _unmanly_? It was like he had a _sister_ – a pretty little princess sister – rather than a younger bro. Throughout his long life, Im Dae had to..._accept_...his brother's peculiarities. And he wasn't really bothered by them...so much. He just wished his brother wasn't such an epic drama queen _and_ an egocentric cross dresser _and_ an insanely jealous little shit all roll in on. Being _one_ was fine, but all _three_ together? Couldn't he just _tone_ everything down?

But then he wouldn't be _Soo Bin Han_.

The older Han brother sighed. _I don't know why I tolerate him._ He thought with a rueful smile, but then Im Dae Han causally looked over to where his brother and his 'boyfriend' was.

They were _arguing_ (again) and Soo Bin looked like he had eaten a rotten lemon.

_Goodness._ Im Dae felt embarrassed. The two's on-gain and off-again relationship was something that he just didn't _understand,_ and he didn't know what they saw in each other that made them keep coming back to each other even when they _knew_ it wouldn't last for long.

Min Chan Kim was an icy cruel bastard who shamelessly cheated on his brother time and time again with _whoever_ he fancied at the time. However, Soo Bin was an _extremely_ jealous and homicidal lover. _Heck_. Soo Bin had murdered Min Chan's various cheating lovers in cold-blood in _front_ of him many times before, but, strangely, Im Dae could help but feel the icy man was..._tickled_...but it in some sick way. After all, with Min Chan being the Chief Warden of Sing Sing Vampire Prisoner Island one would think he would _care_ if such evil crimes were committed _right in front of him. _

But...no.

Min Chan seemed to rather _like_ the twisted attention.

_Oh, darkness._ Im Dae thought to himself. _Here we go again._

"I'm not a fool!" Soo Bin hissed as he flipped his hair "You are attracted to him!" He accused. "You want him! I can _see_ it!"

"I don't have the foggiest idea what you are talking about." Min Chan smoothly said. "I just don't know. "

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Soo Bin snarled. "I saw the way you were caressing him earlier! How dare you?" He cried. "How dare you do this to me _again_!"

_Why oh why wasn't it true that vampires __**died**__ by sunlight?_ Im Dae thought. What sort of melodrama was he forced to be a witness to?

"Aren't we broken up again?" His brother's lover mockingly said. "So why do you even _care_ what I like or don't like?" Min Chan bluntly smirked. "You're the one that broke up with me _this_ time, and he's _quite_ good looking."

Soo Bin's eyes briefly flashed a jealous red. "He's not any better looking than I am, Min Chan!" Soo Bin hissed.

_Yeah right._ Im Dae thought to himself. _Yeah __**the hell**__ right, Sooy._

While Im Dae didn't _get_ their twisted relationship, even Im Dae could see that his brother was feeling very insecure about this. It was obvious to anyone really. He knew Soo Bin was deeply in love with Min Chan in a terrible sort of way, but Min Chan just wasn't _available_. And, while in normal terms, his brother was _high_ up there on the list of attractive bachelors, in comparison to this new silver-haired vampire...

It was like comparing a pigeon to a dove.

And instead of calming his brother's fears, all Min Chan did was **smirk**.

_Oh boy._ Im Dae depressingly thought. _This does not bode well._

But before his brother could leap into a full-blown rage, a door to their aerial chamber slammed opened. Sosono walked in like a hurricane. Her black eyes were blazing, but for some odd reason, she looked _very_ pleased. Quietly following behind her was the unexpectedly awakened but still unknown silver-haired man in question.

"We are about to leave this place. I now have a good plan, so get ready." Sosono boldly announced.

The three pureblood men silently stared.

"How exactly are we to do that?" Min Chan asked. "More humans to kill?" He causally suggested. However, his black eyes seemed to be purely focused on the beautiful silveratte rather than the ancient woman.

Im Dae watched as the unknown man quickly _noticed_ Min Chan's intense gaze on him, and he raised a delicate eyebrow at him.

And, unexpectedly, the odd man gave Min Chan Kim...a suggestively promising grin.

_Oh my precious darkness!_ The older Han brother thought. _Soo Bin is going to kill him!_

But seemingly heedless as to what was going on, Sosono smirked. "Kill some more humans? Not quite." Sosono said. "But that will be _part_ of the general idea." She smirked.

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** Man, my species die like crazy in this fic. -_-' Believe me when I say I'm pro-human like the rest of ya'll! XD But my original character 'villains' are villains for a _reason_. However, I'm trying to make them in real 'persons' to you guys! Cue the rich personalities! XD Hate or love them – they do add some spice to this story! ;D

_Now, to answer some questions I got in some previous reviews:_ Now, I have considered getting a beta. I'm not quite sure of the process to get one, but I'm willing to do it though! However, that will probably mean that I will have to change my intended updating summer schedule for this fic of 2-3 chapters per a week to maybe 1 chapter every two weeks. Betas are people and people have lives after all and I'm not a ... _predictable_... author so I wouldn't want him or her to go crazy with my updating pace. (Wait...are there even _guys_ who read fics like this? O_o I have yet to see a male slash/yaoi-fan, so do they really exist? Or are they the 'Loch Ness Monster' of this side of the world? XD) Nevertheless, if that's what you guys want, I'll do it! Maybe I should put up a poll?

And sorry for flipping around so much! ;_; All the major characters are in different locations now and that will be true for a few more chapters! Bare with me though! I'll work harder and will try to make it very clear where everyone is so that it is not so confusing!

_P.S.:_ Soon, everyone will..._reunite_...but before that...one of the _darkest_ mini-arcs of this fic will soon start. I'm giving you a heads up now and you guys know what I'm talking about. _Yep_. It's finally coming! ;_; In about two or three chapters, one of the great mysteries of this fic will finally be reveled – Zero's Breaking/Silver's Creation! O_O Man, I'm not exactly looking forward to writing those intense chapters though. And while I've had some emotional draining and sad chapters in the past of the fic (Chapter 22 and 36 being notable ones), these coming ones will certainly be a challenge. (In this fic, were there any particular chapters you guys felt was very sad to you? ;_;)

_**Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review! And should I put up that Beta Poll for you? XD **_


	86. Chapter 85 Pursue

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Within the mid-morning sky of Tokyo, Japan three rapidly moving black shadows swiftly cut through a thousand darken clouds. To the human eyes below such odd objects would seem to be nothing more than small harmless birds, thus one wouldn't need to pay them any special further attention. However, if one were to examine these strange flying objects closer, he or she would soon discover that they were neither small birds nor harmless in any way, shape, or form.

These suspicious flying objects were none other than three UH-80L Army Special Operations Helicopters - the best of the best of the Far Eastern Vampire Air Force. Their avionics and precision navigation system made their survivability the highest out of all military-grade helicopters, and each helicopter was equipped with port mounting launchers, pylon mounting cannons, rockets, and a barge of deadly anti-vampire missiles. Such high-grade machines were typically only used for high-risk combat situations and/or the transportation of elite members of vampire society into or out of heavy warzones. In fact, these three flying objects were probably the deadliest things that could have ever grace the darken heavens. For whenever such machines were seen in the skies, it would signal the beginning of the end for it chosen victims.

But what was inside _one_ of them was even **worst**.

For the first time during her life, Lady Seiren felt that she would have been far safer _outside_ of this helicopter then being trapped _within_ it.

Seiren felt helpless as she watched the coming storm. The tension in the lead helicopter was palpable. The sheer tightness within the small airspace seemed to pullout every feeling of nerve, courage, and daring that Lady Seiren always possessed.

Now was not the time for cheerful speeches or encouraging words. And neither was it time for false assurances and talks of hope.

_This_ was the time for _pure_ _**carnage**_.

Arms tightly crossed across her chest, Queen Yuki Kuran sat straight up like a column rod with her feet planted firmly in front of her. Despite her small stature, it felt like her entire presence took up all the white space of the traveling helicopter. It was almost like she was Atlas the Giant whose position was the only thing currently holding up the entire world on his bruised back. Still, on the left side of her hip was her prized gun, the Crimson Throne, and on the right side of her hip was the minimized Artermis Rod.

No one was sitting directly beside the quiet Vampire Queen. However, Seiren felt that she could almost see an invisible aura of bloodthirsty killing intent radiate off of her like a foggy cloud of pure death.

And then there were Yuki's eyes - and it was her eyes that _chilled_ Seiren the most.

Yuki's dark-brown eyes were dark, stark, and empty. There were no feelings, no emotions, _no life_ contained within them. It was like seeing a zombie. No, even _worse_ than a zombie. Yuki's eyes were like the eyes of a dead woman who refused to acknowledge the fact that she was a living corpse.

Seiren shivered. _History was certainly repeating._

Queen Yuki Kuran, The Queen's Dark Hand Yoshiro Yamamoto, Seiren, and Pilot Osamu Tanaka (Seiren's Second Assistant) were the only people inside the leading black helicopter. Despite the mild humming of the above helicopter blades, dead silence continued to fill up the small space. The only thing that broke the unnerving silence was the occasional interruptive conversations of flight position details between Seiren and Tanaka. Thus, notwithstanding those brief conversational bits, everyone in the speeding helicopter was lost in their own thoughts as they all waited for the coming outbreak.

Despite the fact that her face was expressionless, with the eyes of her hundreds of raven bird familiars, Yuki locked on and targeted hundreds of vampire faces within a forty-mile radius. Few faces she knew but hundreds she did not. In spite of that, her ravens were locking on to any unusual vampire auras as she familiar-search for her children – yet she had found _**nothing**_.

Nothing. _Nothing_. _**Nothing**_.

Yuki's mood darkened evermore slightly.

Still, the humans below were starting to notice the weird bird activity and the numbing headache that had started early for her was quickly becoming overwhelming. Yuki knew she would have to stop soon, but she _continued_ to push herself. Harder. Faster. **Further**. Yuki would push herself until her eyes started to _bleed_ because...who knows?

Who knows?

Perhaps in the next moment (or the next and the next) Yuki would actually find that _key_ clue to her precious children's whereabouts.

Perhaps, perhaps. And so Yuki heedlessly continued on her increasingly darkening path of insanity.

By Night, Seiren felt the dreadful chill in her soul burn _hotter_. Seiren always believed that she was a loyal warrior in her own right. Therefore, it was her duty and _purpose_ to be prepared for anything and everything at all times.

Sans the five lost years of madness, Seiren and Yuki had become very good friends over the years. Despite their conflicting natures, the two had a synergic working relationship and often found themselves agreeing and feeling similarly on a wide range of things. Yuki had always said that Seiren was just like the vampire-version of Sayori Wakaba - only with a much _lower_ tolerance for suffering fools. Seiren didn't really know what to think about that, but she knew it was a high compliment in some weird way.

However, if Yuki's current insanity spiral was _the_ major problem, the man _fueling_ that spiral was the next big one.

On the same side beside Seiren (but on the farthest end of the flying helicopter) sat a _bouncing_ Yoshiro. As usual, his dark glasses hid his eyes and his dark black cap hid his hair. However, what was _new_ about him was his gigantic shot gun, Death's Door, that was casually hanging on the back of his neck and on top of his broad shoulders. Seiren was in awe with the considerable size of the thing, but she was equally leery that such an amazing weapon was in the possession of someone so _unstable_. His slim fur-covered glove fingers seemed to dance down on the muzzle and stock of his immense weapon while he had the sheer audacity to wear a bright grin on his evil face while doing so.

Seiren dearly wished she had killed him when she had the chance so long ago. She knew. She _just knew _that this man's presence was making Yuki _worst_.

And even now, that vile man's smirking words to her - before all this - haunted her. Haunted her and now she felt was who soon discover his answer to his own terrible question. Seiren still didn't know what to make of it and while Seiren refused to acknowledge or answer that vile question of his – she knew it was going to play an appalling part in destroying her dear friend.

_"Do you want to know why the Queen trusts me more than she trusts the both of you?"_

Why would Seiren even think that Yuki _trusted_ this little insane beast _more_ than she _**trusted her?**_ Seiren had been there from the beginning! And she suspected that the awful question was only spoken to her in order to _upset_ her rather than reveal a truth. Yet, Yoshiro was _sick_ like that. He always liked to push her buttons, somewhat like Hanabusa, but in a more _malevolent_ way.

Still, the question _bothered_ Seiren.

Between her and Yoshiro – who did Seiren feel that Yuki _trusted_ more? And how would she know that?

_**Memory Flash!**_ "_Bridesmaids are supposed to watch the bride's back, I think!" A young Yuki brightly answered. __**End Flash!**_

Before all this, Seiren would have said that she had the Queen's total trust in all matters, but with everything that is happening...didn't it seem like Yuki was shutting her out?

Like the last time?

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Talk about unwanted surprises! Seiren's military communicator loudly rang for her attention. _Goodness_. If she had any less discipline, Seiren would have clutched her heart in absolute fright because of it.

But upon turning on the communicator on the other side of the screen was Akatsuki Kain.

If possible, the redhead looked even _worst_ then she did.

King Kuran wasn't exactly rainbows and sunshine on a good day, much less on a day like this. So if Seiren was dealing with a hurricane with Yuki, she could only imagine what poor Akatsuki (and to another extent, Takuma and Hanabusa) was going through.

"Seiren," Akatsuki began without any preamble, "We have reason to believe that the kidnappers are currently located at the Northern Airport 50 miles outside of Tokyo. Since your group has the East and Northern Search Area, it would be best that you investigate that lead quickly."

"Affirmative." Seiren said. "Do you have any clues as to the identity of the kidnappers?"

"Rebel Korean Purebloods." Akatsuki shot back. "And they may be linked to the human massacre of before." He quickly added. "Furthermore, we have reason to believe that a new ancestor female pureblood is the ringleader of these attacks to the throne. She seems to be working with high members of the Korean Royal Court like Korean Night Lord Song...who is now deceased. So take the necessary precautions. Do not engage if the ancestor is truly there." He advised. "We also have reason to believe that the currently missing Korean Royal Governor Kim is _also_ working with her. Therefore, if you find him, we may also find the royal children."

_Oh darkness, why?_ Seiren depressingly thought to herself. _An ancestor vampire?_ Of all the _things_ to be behind this!

This wasn't an out of the frying pan into the fire setback – this was an inferno level complication!

But, as usually, Seiren kept her usual calm. (Despite what she _really_ felt inside.) "I see." She nodded. "We will do as advised." And as quickly as Akatsuki appeared, he was gone.

However, she wasn't the only person who had just learned of that information.

"Kim! Kim!" Yoshiro happily chanted. "Governor Kim is the new prey-prey, my dark lady queen!" He gleefully said. Oh, Seiren wanted to kill him. This was not a game!

Yoshiro bounced. "I know what he looks like too, my lady! I know! I know!" He said and then his lips twisted. "So can I just hunt him down and bring his bleeding head to you, please? Pretty please? With a severed finger on top?"

Seiren deadly glared at him as she quickly turned off her communicator, but before she could response, Yuki's dead dark-brown eyes slid towards him like a cold snake.

For a moment, she did nothing.

But _too soon_, a cold curve on her lips _**formed**_.

Yoshiro's answering grin became even brighter.

_Let the pursuit begin. _Seiren darkly thought. _The time for my mental muses has come to a sad end._ Seiren said to herself. Then she barked her new orders to Tanaka to change directions.

And as the helicopter fleet took off in the new direction, Seiren could only hope that this new direction _wasn't_ towards Hell.

* * *

**Chapter Eight–Five: Pursue**

* * *

**Present **

Silver Night, now known to the Korean rebels as 'Shigeru', calmly leaned himself against the aerial chamber wall as Sosono revealed her newest escape plan to the gathered rebels. As the gathered six rebels debated with each other the key details of the new idea, Silver took the time to secretly assess each pureblood and form his countermeasures against them.

Honestly, in many ways these rebels were quite a mess. Each had a unique personality who could end up being an explosive mix for him. Silver couldn't well become 'the one' to everyone here. However, with all the egos he would have to deal with, it would be _hard_ to charm everyone. And there was at least one person here who seemed to be glaring at him with an unnatural level of hostility for being someone he didn't even know.

_Sigh. _

Tricky, Tricky.

Therefore, using the corner of his eyes but keeping his eyelids half closed, Silver took in all the information he could learn about his kidnappers so that he could make his best judgments.

Information, after all, is a power.

Nevertheless, Silver had charmed at least two of the purebloods here – the woman who was just like his master, Lady Sosono, and the woman who reminded him of his late Mistress Megumi, Hye Jin Song. There was a third woman whom he had never met before and from the going on conversation, he gathered that she was known as Wan Hoo Kim. The three women couldn't be more different if one tried. If Hye Jin was warm and friendly and Sosono was immoderate and powerful, this Wan Hoo was icy and egocentric.

Silver internally frowned. She also shared some physical similarities to the man who rudely touched him early and who was standing beside the only person in the room who was _glaring_ at him. His mother perhaps? They _did_ seem to share that same iciness in personality.

Nevertheless, Sosono was obviously the acting leader among this group. However, Silver felt she was acting more like a mother hen trying to get her quaky baby chicks in line than anything else. And, for some strange reason, Silver saw that she was giving a false reverence to the icy Wan Hoo Kim.

Silver internally frowned again. It didn't make much sense to him. Sosono was obviously more powerful than the icy woman, but she was wearing the mask of a 'loyal servant'. The key word here was 'wearing'. Even Silver could see that Sosono _despised_ the icy woman with every ounce of her being, but everyone acted like they couldn't see it or really cared – especially the very person who that hidden anger was directed at!

How strange.

If Silver had to guess, he would say that Wan Hoo had something _over_ Sosono. And it was probably something big. And, as unlikely as that conclusion was, whatever Wan Hoo held over her was forcing Sosono to _perform_ like this.

Silver was somewhat amazed! By night, he had _never_ seen something like this before! It was so _terribly_ perplexing to him!

But what was _equally_ strange was that Silver felt like he had witnessed this _exact same situation before. _

Something inside Silver stirred.

_Yes_. The situation of where an ancient and extremely powerful being was enchained by a far less powerful soul.

Yes, Yes. _This_ situation _was_ familiar. Familiar in a disturbing way.

But what put the cherry on top of this sundae of pure craziness was the fact that Silver felt like... he wanted...no, _**needed**_...to _help_ Sosono...like...he had..._before_?

_**Before?**_

Without warning, the image of an unknown pureblood man that strangely looked like his pureblood master but with one red eye and one blue one _assaulted_ Silver's flabbergasted mind.

_**Memory Flash! **_

_Dark cold snow was heavily falling. _

_Hands bloody and holding his beloved Bloody Rose surrounded by vicious thorns, he pointed his gun at this vampire beast's black heart._

_Yet, his soon-to-be dead enemy just smiled at him. _

_Z-o was completely creep out by it. Just like K-n. Just like that pureblooded prick bastard. No wonder they were related. _

"_**Hunter, hunter, little hunter**__." The creepily dangerous man darkly sang. "__**You fight like a knight, not like a predator - and that will be to your destruction in the end.**__" _

_**End Flash!**_

Silver felt an intense wave of sickness explode inside of him.

_**By...the...Night!**_

It took every ounce of his resolve not to let his sudden weakness and surprise show. And _somehow_ he succeeded. Still, Silver was _**completely mystified.**_

It was almost like his true self had...unseeingly let that little bit of information about his past unexpectedly slip out because of a present living remainder. Just like when Silver was around his master's children – something about _this_ event triggered his true self's awareness. But with the children, it was so much stronger. Silver would actually _hear_ his voice when he was around them.

But this situation and his previous observation sent chills down his spine.

So, something about the powerful Sosono being enslaved by the less powerful and foolish Wan Hoo triggered _that_ new memory and -

Immediately, the memory was _**erased**_.

For a long moment, Silver felt a terrible sense of lost...

...And then a _huge_ spike of hard-to-concealed black rage.

_You... _He stammering thought._ You would __**dare**__ to bring up something from our past __**now**__, true one?_ Silver silently snarled. _You would actually dare in such a __**dangerous **__**situation **__and then __**hide it**__?_

There was a brief hush within him, and Silver half-way expected no answer (like always), but when an answer did come – it wasn't from the _self_ he wanted.

_**I am sorry for letting that get past me. **_The monotone child-like voice of the waxed said. _**But please focus, shadow one. Survive.**_ _**These mild outer connections to his past are hurting him, but true one did not mean for it to happen. **_

_Did not mean it to happen?_ Silver was bewildered**. **_Is he not aware of what I do, see, and feel? Does he not understand our painful reality? _

_**Yes**_**.** Was the answer. _**No.**_Was the next. _**And that is not for you to know, shadow one. Just survive.**_ Was the final answer.

Silver wanted to _stab_ something!

Never a straight answer!

_What in the world?_ He snapped. _When did true one __**ever**__ mean it? And why is he __**still not aware**__ of our life when he can manifest himself in this reality? _Silver bitterly accused._ I can't...I just can't do everything...by myself. _He sadly stated. _It is destroying me._

And it was.

It _really_ was...despite the fact that Silver wanted to ignore it.

During Juri's abduction, his true self had completely taken over, but it almost seemed as if he didn't truly understand this new world and was still living in his old one?

Damn it! _Why?_

Why? _Why?_ **Why?**

And _whenever_ Silver got a _small_ triggered hint of his past, it was mercilessly taken away like a spoiled secret by his waxed self - so when did his true self ever actually mean to do it?

But to those questions both his waxed self and true self remained silent.

_**If in the end it destroys you...**_ The waxed self said. _**Then you will simply be replaced, shadow one. Just like the other times.  
**_

Other times.

For a minute, Silver let that dark thought sink in.

Oh, Silver was really starting to _hate_ them. _Both_ of them.

Why is it that his true self like to cause him such pain? What exactly was the man's problem? Why the big secret? Why? What was so wrong with him knowing who he was? It was almost like his true self enjoyed his shadow's self suffering! To first declare that he deserved hell and then give him a small glance of heaven...

What a terribly cruel man he was.

_Don't think about it._ Silver bitterly thought to himself. _Don't bother thinking about it. Just...__**just**__..._

_**Survive. **_

Yes, that's it.

Survive.

So, Silver bitterly refocused and resumed his study of the rebels.

* * *

_**Meanwhile...**_

Under intense duress, Royal Korean Governor Byung Gi Kim forced his human hover aerial cab driver to get to this small northern airport as fast as possible. The human man committed a thousand driving violations in order to comply with his request, but when a load gun is pointed at your head and is held by an out-of-his mind with worry pureblood one simply does as he is told to do.

So even though the human had _peed_ himself to comply with Byung Gi's insane demands (and who probably need intense psychiatric care afterwards), the pureblood got to the fifty mile away airport in less than nine minutes.

Good times!

However, while things _had_ been looking up, suddenly an unexpected problem slapped him right in the face.

"What do you mean that travel has been _restricted_?" Byung Gi loudly hissed. "I have an important business meeting to get to in Hawaii, and I _can't_ be stopped here!" He boldly lied.

The boarding steward looked very annoyed, but she continued with her refusal. "I'm sorry, sir." The human woman didn't look _at all_ sorry. "But the Japanese Travel Commission has placed us on lock down because of weather concerns." She repeated. "I'm sorry, but you will have to wait." She droned on. "Now, would you like to stay here or at a hotel?"

"Bullshit!" Byung Gi cursed. His fears overcoming him. No, he did not what to stay in a freaking hotel! Who the hell wants to stay at a hotel when two insanely powerful pureblood monarchs could be hunting for him as he speaks? "This is such utter bullshit!" He said. "I want to leave and I want to leave NOW!"

"Pip down, buddy." A college-aged male human yelled. "We are all in the same boat as _your_ moldy ass so just shut the yell up, asshole."

The sheer disrespect to an elder! Byung Gi nearly swiped the bratty human's head off, but he controlled him.

Still, Byung Gi knew that if he didn't find a way to get out of this blasted country – he would be toasted. And not in the tasty sense, but in the tortured over a fire sense.

By Darkness, he needed to get out of here NOW!

* * *

_**Simultaneously, Back At Wadaura Port...**_

Soo Bin Han, also known as Vampire Korea's _National_ Treasure, viciously glared at the _ugly_ _mousy silver-haired wretch_ that dared to **flirt** with **HIS MAN!**

_How dare he! How freaking dare he_! Soo Bin was going to tear that disgusting jerk-off apart! _The sheer nerve of some people!_

But as Soo Bin Han silently fumed to himself, Rebel Lady Sosono grinned from ear to ear as she finalized her new solution for their current dilemma. "Does everybody understand their part to the plan?" She lightly asked.

"Yes." Im Dae, his always uptight brother tonelessly said. "We can do this." After which Im Dae lightly pinched his younger brother for him to stop his _so obvious_ glaring.

"Humph!" Soo Bin childishly affirmed look fiercely at his brother.

Stupid brother! Didn't he know such things caused him to bruise! And bruise easily! Stupid, stupid brother! As if he _needed_ more scars! Goodness! Min Chan always hated it when he had scars that he didn't cause!

However, Soo Bin's great love, Min Chan Kim, seemed not to notice Soo Bin's hurt, and he kept a delicate smirk on his lips. "I'll stand by at the bridge." He simply said. "Once everything gets going, I will be able to get us quickly out here once you return." He said. But even as he voiced his agreement with Sosono's new plan, Soo Bin noticed that his not-now boyfriend was still eying that ugly little wretch!

Soo Bin's jealous fury skyrocketed.

_This disgusting little tramp! If he touches just one little inch of my Min..._ Soo Bin thought to himself as he glared at the blasé silver-haired beauty. _I'll rip off that finger. No! I'll rip off that entire hand! _

However, seemingly ignorant of what was going on around her, Sosono clapped her hands and brightly smiled. "Good." She said. "Now just make sure-"

And without the slightest bit of warnings, the typically quiet and mild Hye Jin Song clutched her heart like someone had just grabbed a hold of it and was trying to rip it out.

She _**screamed**_. The sound of it chill _every_ soul in the room.

"_MY HEART!"_ Hye Jin turned rapidly around, and her eyes seemed to see something that none of them could see. "_MY LIFE!_" Her black eyes were suddenly engulfed with large bloody tears as she plummeted to her knees.

"_**My love...**_" And at that...she blacked out. Her whispered her last phase sounded like a dying prayer.

For a long moment, a startled silence engulfed the room.

"Well, _I never_." Wan Soo Kim rudely rolled her eyes. "Some people." She shakily waved her hand and started to walk out the room.

Sosono's previous bright smile had transformed into a dark look - but she said nothing. Min Chan causally shrugged his shoulders in agreement with his mother. Soo Bin still looked totally frozen, but only _Im Dae_ looked both confused and empathetic towards the unconscious woman. He was the only person that looked at Sosono questioningly.

"I believe her love mate was just murdered." Sosono darkly informed everyone in the room.

"Joon Ho is dead?" Im Dae felt green. "How? I thought you plan would have-"

"Never mind that!" Sosono hissed. "We can discuss this later!" She added. "Get that woman in her room and lock the door. She won't be useful for a while now." She ordered. "But we need to leave this port _right now_ if we don't want to end up like Joon Ho."

"But what about Hye Jin's son, Goog?" Im Dae asked. "We can't just leave him!"

"Oh, we _certainly_ _can_." Sosono glared. "And we _**certainly**_ _**will**_." But as she looked them all directly in the eyes, they could see that the dark monster within Sosono's soul was well pleased.

Her people could now learn a real lesson after all.

"This is what _true_ rebellion is." Sosono coldly whispered. "We use lives, not save them."

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** Things are popping off! ;_; Oh, man, bad things are coming! Really bad things! So hold on to your hats, folks!

Ahem, I have something important to say...I...have...over...**1000** **REVIEWS**...for...this...story!

Excuse me as I dieeeee...from sheer happiness! XD

I don't know what to say, but thank you, _thank you_, _**thank you guys!**_ I'm tearing up as I think about it! It's almost been a year since I decided to write this fanfic and it was solely based on a "Why not?" factor and summer boredom. However, I NEVER expected that people would actually like what I was doing and actually become fans of this strange idea/story of mine!

I'm truly touched! Honestly, touched! Some of you guys have been with me from the beginning and others have joined along the way! Some of you have fav and follow while others just check this story as a routine part of their day. Some have left and others have joined, but honestly, I never felt _so amazed_. And I don't know what to say or do to show my gratitude! ;_; When I first reached one hundreds reviews for this story (which seems like ages ago), I gave all my reviewers at that time personal Thanks You Messages via PM! I'm thinking of doing that now as well! (Goodness, I'm such a corny sap! Bare with me! XD) But that will take some time, you know! Cause I need to make the list! XD

_Now, on to some questions:_ The Beta dilemma. The problem with me is that I'm something of a _perfectionist_ and an _overachiever_. When I see a mistake, I want to _immediately_ correct it and I obsess until it is done. However, even though I run through each chapter five to seven times before posting, I will _still_ see mistakes many days and nights after the fact and..._cringe_. Now, some of you guys are..._passionate_...about no beta, (Perhaps I spoiled the sea with my intended update schedule? -_-' _My bad..._) but one nice person has offered to be my beta (Thank you, barettachante. We will be in touch.), and some of you guys don't care either way! XD However, I don't want to start a 'fan war' over this (After all, we must all save that energy for the Zeki and Kaze war that will definitely soon come! XD), so I've decided to have a compromise of sorts.

Let me finish this entire kidnapping arc as how I'm doing it first before I bring in a beta. After all, I want to get this arc over with as fast as possible and the following arcs will certainly need one because there...well, let's cross _that_ bridge when we get there, eh? ;D So, for now, I'm not in a hunt for a beta yet!

_Furthermore..._ that next lemon I promised you guys between KanamexSilver/Zero will signal the _**end**_ of the whole kidnapping arc! Which is...relatively soon...in coming! XD I'm outline the thing as we speak but don't expect it too soon though. We all know by now that is one of the things I dread when writing. Ah, those evil lemons. O_O' Such things really take up lots of my... energy!

Anyhow, more action, plots, character development, and mysteries awaits thee, my dear readers/reviews! Hints and foreshadowing notwithstanding! XD I'm not nearly out of my bag of tricks and twist yet! :)

Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long, now or later, simple or complex, English or not – I love them all! 3 3 3


	87. Chapter 86 Track

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

Like a man possessed, Royal Korean Governor Byung Gi Kim grandly marched back and forth before the large airport windows near his plane gate. As he made a small spectacle of himself, Byung Gi viciously swore to himself.

Damn it. _Damn it._ **Damn it.**

He glared at his closet window, and the thing seem to..._melt_...somewhat. Byung Gi ran a heavy hand through his hair. His getaway airplane was _just right there_ at the terminal! Why couldn't they just _go_? What was the point of this _stupid_ lock down?

Damn it. _Damn it._ **Damn it.**

Perhaps he should have gone back to the escape yacht? _Yes_. Perhaps he should have! Even though he had sold out the two male Songs as per Sosono's orders, that didn't mean he should have gone _rouge_ all together!

Good Night! Byung Gi was starting to think his justifiable fear was making him into an idiot!

The Royal Governor felt like crying! By darkness, he thought it better to get out of this blasted country another way then possibly be caught with his fellow rebels all together. He didn't have much _faith_ in Sosono. Heck! The very minute Byung Gi had found out about her, he didn't trust the ancient ancestor in the _slightest_.

Most young Korean vampire children heard of the great tales of Great Lady Sosono – The General of Freedom. The tales of her battles and wars against Ancient Vampire Korea's numerous enemies had been the basis of common fairytales vampire parents told their children. When he was young, he wished he could have been just like her! He wished he would be the one to free his nation from foreign rule and be remembered as a hero for life!

But then he _grew up_ and learned that life was _not_ a fairytale.

Still, when his mother, Wan Soo Kim, discovered the locked away ancestor – Byung Gi's boyish hopes were...rekindled. His mother had painstakingly nursed the woman back to full health and in order to hide her existence from the rest of the world, his mother built a notorious private vampire prison on that lonely island location.

In his early years, Byung Gi and his younger brother, Min Chan, were raised in that environment (and that was one of the reasons why Min Chan was so..._twisted_). Nevertheless, his mother was intent on making her name be known throughout history like Sosono's was. And with the powers of an ancient vampire suddenly handed to her on a silver platter, his mother was going to make sure of it was – consequences be damned.

Byung Gi sighed. While Byung Gi..._cared_...for his mother, even _he_ knew she lacked the basic qualities of a true leader. Wan Soo was..._**lazy**_. To put it mildly. She didn't have much of a work ethic, and that was sort of shown by how she lived her life.

Min Chan was a case in point. His younger brother loved to take and _take_ and **take**. He had no ambition. No goals. He just drifted through life and found mild pleasure in the _darkest_ of amusements. Min Chan was the perfect twisted reflection of his mother's carelessness, and Byung Gi knew that would end up be their downfall in the end. However, the only thing that had saved Byung Gi from their soon-coming fate was his dear sweet wife.

Who Byung Gi had made sure _**no one**_ knew _existed_.

Except for King Kuran...of course.

Byung Gi frowned darkly to himself. One of the reasons why King Kuran had made him Royal Governor of Korea was _because_ of this. In his pre-king days, the blasted man discovered his _hidden_ family's existence. Most people believed him to be a lonely bachelor, but in truth, he wasn't. He simply hid his beloved family away from all prying eyes because that was the only sure way he could keep them safe. Still, when the King Kuran had found out about them, Byung Gi had begged the man not to reveal anything! (Darkness forbid if his mother or brother found out that he truly loved a common vampire woman!) And the man had promised to do so – if only he vowed to become his Korean Royal Governor.

Byung Gi heavily sighed. In essence, taking that position pretty much broadcasted to the entire vampire world that he was nothing more than the Far Eastern King's loyal lap-dog. And he knew the bastard knew it, but he demanded his 'loyalty' all the same. Understandably, his mother was furious! The Kim Clan was already a laughingstock as it was – kind of like how the Mongolian vampires were – and for Wan Soo's eldest son to willingly be the Japanese Tyrant's _stooge_...

Well, you can imagine how their _next_ family dinner went.

However, Sosono _surprised_ him. _She_ had actually supported his decision in serving the Kuran King and had thus shut his mother up about it. From then on, Byung Gi had started to trust the ancient woman more...but with all these shocking recent events - Byung Gi was _rethinking_ everything.

After all, if the woman was willing to sell out the Elder Song – a person who she didn't have much of an issue with – what could she do _to him_ – someone who she _did_ have an issue with because of his connections with the person she _most_ (secretly)hated?

Could you really blame Byung Gi for wanting to jump ship when he could?

_Sigh._

Byung Gi did not want to be captured with his fellow rebels by the Royal House. If that happened, he would have to 'explain' himself and thus endanger his beloved hidden family. That couldn't happen! King Kuran already had him on his blacklist because of that human massacre in Korea several weeks ago. And between King Kuran and Sosono – Byung Gi _definitely_ feared Kuran _more_ than anything else.

His mother was, in essence, Sosono's _mistress_. Therefore, as long as his mother lived, Sosono wouldn't dare to harm him despite what he did to her. So even if he abandoned them now, she wouldn't be able to do much to him because of it.

Nevertheless, even though Byung Gi had blamed everything on the Songs, he wasn't sure that King Kuran would _buy_ that lie! The man _was_ the Far Eastern Vampire King, after all. One did not get such a position be being a _fool_.

Byung Gi looked out the window again and was once again reminded he _wasn't going away _anytime soon.

Damn. _Damn._ **Damn it.**

**Nothing** was moving along the runway. The pilots and stewards were simply enjoying their time (after all, they were _still_ being paid despite no real work), and potential passengers were either sleeping or booking hotel rooms to stay in until this strange lock down was over.

By darkness, what the _hell_ should Byung Gi do? How could he save his own ass?

The 'melting' window revealed no answers.

Byung Gi rolled his eyes at himself and decided to look away.

But suddenly, a small black bird appeared, and gently sat on top of his intended escape airplane.

Byung Gi stared at it. _How odd_. He thought, but then his mood turned dark. _What is that weird thing doing on my escape airplane?_ Byung Gi snarled. _What was it? A raven? What an ugly little thing you are! _

Didn't the servicemen usually keep such things _out_ of airports? Birds have been known to get stuck in the wings of airplanes thus causing untold disaster crashes.

_Shoo!_ Byung Gi waved at it. _Shoo! Shoo! Go away_. He thought. _The last thing I need is for my only escape path to be sabotaged by a damn bird!_

But the sole black bird didn't move.

By Night's Darkness, Byung Gi wished his life was easier! He was just one poor man trapped in life. Nothing and no one respected or cared him. Not even a damn black raven.

* * *

**Chapter Eighty–Six: Track**

* * *

**Present**

_It would be too much to expect these rebels to trust me with any part of their escape plan._ Silver Night darkly mused as his mind spun. Indeed, although he had charmed at least three (now two) of these rebel kidnappers didn't mean that he was suddenly a trustworthy comrade to them.

Yet.

But Silver could use that fact to his advantage in this crisis.

As Silver watched each rebel leave the silent aerial chamber (one of the Han brothers – the one who wasn't glaring fiery death at him – pick up and took the fallen female Song to an undisclosed room), Silver darkly reflected at his accomplishment.

It was _he_ that had expertly suggested to Sosono her new escape plan. He told her that she needed to give the humans a logical excuse and critical reason for a rapid evacuation effort within the sea port.

Therefore, if she could cause a massive explosion within the port, it would force all ships to leave the area immediately because having a massive fire, especially so near to millions of dollar worth of cargo and material, would force the human port executives to let down the force fields around the port. They needed to get all the unaffected but still trapped ships out, after all.

Sosono had stared at him for the longest of moments after he suggested that plan to her. And despite Silver's "Dark Warrior Knight" persona mask he was using on her, he was sweating bullets as he hoped that she would consider his suggestion. Silver had no time to really understand this Sosono's nature, and he was operating blind with her.

After a while, Sosono looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I don't trust you, Shigeru." She blunlyt said. "I don't trust you at all."

But at that, Silver gave her a roguish dark grin. "And you _shouldn't_, my lady." He said and then he hit her were his characteristic siren's glaze. "After all, can _you_ really say that you _**rule me**_..._yet_?"

At _that _comment, Sosono's eyes black eyes amusedly flashed. And Silver knew that he _had_ her. She finally brought under this act of his at last!

"Indeed." Sosono softly said. "Indeed, indeed – _my dear Shigeru_." Her lips formed a bright grin. "But that little complication will soon be _solved_, my dear." And with that she went to gather her men to explain _her_ discovered solution to their current problem.

As he pretended to listen as Sosono explained 'her' plan, Silver was extremely glad she took his advice because his carefully given suggestions would serve _him_ well in _two_ distinct ways.

First, Sosono would _never_ forget what he had done for her, and thus he would be in her good graces..._for now_. And as the 'leader' of this foolishness and as the objectively strongest person here, it was _best _for him to be allied with her then the rest of the rebels.

Besides, Sosono's power seemed to rival that of his Master Kaname. In the soon-coming battle between the two, perhaps this Sosono would end up _killing_ his Master Kaname - thus transferring Silver's Master-Doll Enslavement Bond to her at his death.

_Hmmm._

All thing are possible, you know.

In terms of familiarity, Master Kaname _did_ treat him best. In fact, he had been treated _very_ well – almost to the point that Silver nearly believed that Master Kaname saw him as a _person_ rather than as a _thing_. Silver had identified the reason why he had formed such an..._attachment_...to the pureblood man.

Master Kaname was one of the few people to treat him like he..._mattered_. Like Silver was an important person to him.

Bah! What foolishness!

Apparently, living in such luxury and hearing soft words addled with his good senses! Silver massaged his forehead and darkly grinned despite himself. Before the First Court Session, his master had used his _Submission Bonds_ against him – without _any_ reason or prompting whatsoever.

Silver had nearly went out of his mind with worry! It was strange that he had forgotten such a thing! Generally, such actions triggered the beginning of the end for him. And 'the end' meant the end of his 'love relationship' with his current master.

Being a Doll for so long, Silver understood that the feelings of love were pointless. Despite his carefully crafted illusions, Silver _knew_ that there was something vital missing when he pretended to 'love' his various masters back. It was something he couldn't control or understand. In spite of his best of effects, there would come a time when his victim would realize that something was..._missing..._in Silver's affections.

Missing something that was crucial.

Thus, regardless of Silver's _best_ intentions, there would come a day when his master would _question_ Silver's trueness to him and when that day came – everything when downhill from there. The first few times it had happened, Silver had nearly lost his life because of that master's unexplained mad jealousy. Silver didn't know why such things happened or when his various masters started to doubt his 'love' when he had tried his best to perfect his illusions of it.

But something always gave it away. Something he just didn't understand or know.

So, in order to solve this terrible flaw in his various seductions, Silver fell back to his old safeguards.

_**Destruction. **_

First, he enchanted. Then he seduced. Next he'll claim. And at last, he destroyed.

Destroying his victims before they found out that Silver's true love for them was a dark _counterfeit_ was the _only_ reason why Silver had survived as long as he had. This ideal cycle of his had never failed him before and...Silver decided that he would just have to _move on_ from Master Kaname to _someone_ _else_ if it all came down to it.

Was that cold of him? Heartless? Unfeeling?

Of course it was.

But it was the only way _he_ _survived_.

Silver enchanted the man with his wiles. He seduced him with his false nature. He then tried to _claim_ his master's love..._and thus extend their __**blissful**__ time together...,but_ Silver knew – _he just knew_ - that his third stage would _**never**_ be completed now.

The time to '_love'_ Master Kaname has now passed. So, Silver decided that he would need to jump to the next stage...and destroy him.

Destroy _him_ before that man could destroy _**him**_.

It was the only way Silver knew how to live, and that would have to be enough.

After all, the most dangerous type of master to Silver wasn't the one who hated him, but the one that loved him. Love him so seriously and _furiously_ and _**passionately...**_but somehow **_knowing_ **that Silver didn't - _couldn't_ – love him or her equally back.

This was why masters should never love their Dolls. Such 'love' only ended up destroying the Doll in question.

In the end, Silver was a shadow person – _an incomplete being_ – and 'loyalty' was a noble quality he did _**not**_ possess. Just like he didn't possess happiness, kindness, or love for anything at all.

Thus, this may be the time for Silver to..._jump ship._

_But what a lovely journey it was... _

No matter what he felt about this matter, Silver was, first and foremost, _a Doll_. Freedom to choose his destiny was something he'd given up a long ago, so it was easy for him to crush every stupid feeling of his on this matter.

Silver needed to 'ally' himself with Sosono. She could very well end up being his _new_ mistress. Therefore, good connections had to be built, after all. Nonetheless, Silver was _apt_ to know that _**nothing**_ was certain, and that he _still_ needed to play _all_ the possible sides until the _final_ hour.

Sosono may well be his next owner, but Master Kaname _wasn't_ **dead** yet.

Therefore, his suggested plan to Sosono will _also_ help him with his relationship to his current master should he return to save him with his children and end up killing the rebel woman.

The pendulum swings both ways.

The coming fiery explosion at this port should give his master a vital clue as to the direction of their whereabouts. Silver wasn't foolish enough to ask Sosono where they were heading to. He knew such a smart woman like her would never give up such vital information. Therefore, all Silver could do was leave 'bread crumbs' from time to time and hoped that his pureblood master was _paying attention_. After all, the man would come for his children, so 'helping' him in this regard would help _him_ too in the long run – _if_ Master Kaname lived and won against Sosono that is.

But Silver sighed. There was still _one_ problem in this plot of his.

While his master was quite smart (and scarily so), vampires _did_ have a stupid tendency to overlook drastic human affairs.

Silver grimaced at the foolishness.

Honestly, the massive majorities of the vampire world truly didn't _care_ about what went on in the human world, and even more didn't know much about it! By Night! It was almost as if vampires believed that so long as the two worlds were kept apart, and the humans continue to remain clueless of their existence – the Nightfall World would go on as it had for thousands of years to come.

One day Silver truly hoped that the humans would give these _**selfish beastly bastards**_ a nasty surprise and -

Silver rapidly blinked to himself.

What an..._out-of-character_...thought for someone like him!

Silver frowned to himself, but decided to _ignore_ it.

Still, there was only so much Silver could do to help his master in this regard. Until the man found them, Silver would be on his _own,_ and so he would have to do things his _own_ way.

Thus, the only group Silver needed to appease _now_ were his master's children - Haraku and Juri Kuran.

Silver heavily sighed. He wasn't at all looking forward to _that_ meeting. It would clearly be something.

Nevertheless, very soon each gathered rebel left the aerial chamber room. Hye Jin Song, the woman who reminded him greatly of his late Mistress Megumi, was unconscious. The result from a love bond break, no doubt.

Darkness forbid it, but Silver _hoped_ that the love bond broken was a true-love one. Silver knew such a thing would end up driving the woman insane if it was a true-love bond that she had shared with her mate. Even with her mild and gentle character, a broken true-love bond was _extremely_ shattering. There were only two endings for the surviving lover – death or insanity. There was nothing else between.

Silver sighed again. He truly didn't know what he was _feeling_ because of it, and so he _ignored_ that too.

However, the effeminate pureblood man who had been _glowering_ at him during this entire affair had gifted him with one last _vicious_ look before leaving as well. Silver's gray-plum eyes narrowed.

_That_ one would cause him trouble later - Silver could _see_ it.

But soon everyone left the room - except for Sosono and himself.

The powerful woman slid her black eyes to him, and Silver simply waited for her to speak. After all, he needed to maintain this new but false personality of his for her.

Dark Warrior Knights must wait on their ladies, you know.

"You really are quite strange, Shigeru." Sosono remarked. "You're not angry that I stole your idea and passed it off as my own?" She asked.

Silver raised a delicate eyebrow. Was he some immature _child_ to her or something? To get angry over that..._ha!_

Silver simply gave her smile. "There are far more important things I could be angry about, my lady." He said. "And small things like 'credit' isn't one of them." Then he gave her a mysterious look. "But if the idea _doesn't_ work...you can't blame me because it wasn't my idea." He joked.

Sosono lightly laughed. "Cunning, my Shigeru." She smiled. "_So cunning_." She brushed a few pieces of her black hair out of her face. "One would think you had no honor."

Silver shrugged. "Does the lady require honor?" He asked. "Or does the lady prefers what works?"

_Oh,_ Sosono's soul purred. _He is __**definitely**__ not like most men._

To say that Sosono was _pleased_ with this man would be a greatest of understatements. She was _so_ glad that she had decided to take him – her suspicions be damned.

This Shigeru was just like _**him,**_ and he was a man after her own heart.

But because of that she would have to watch him carefully.

A plotter never fully trusted _another_ plotter.

Sosono nodded her head. "Prefers what works, of course." She answered and smiled at their game.

"Now, about the royal children..." Silver began, and he could see Sosono stiffed as she wondered what his _new_ intentions were, "Since their caretaker is unable to care for them now, I believe it best that _I_ should be the one to take over that duty."

Sosono's eyes narrowed with doubt, but before she could voice her disapproval, Silver decided to lightly laugh to calm her down.

"Come, come now, my lady." He said with a dark grin. "Do you really think it is possible for me to make an _escape_ with them so terribly injured?" He asked in pretended disbelief. "I may be a unique type of _fool_ but not in that grand sense."

"So you promise that you won't try to escape with them then?" Sosono darkly asked.

_This was it._ Silver needed to throw his dice and chanced it. If she brought _this_ play, she would buy into his entire presentation.

So, looking directly into Sosono's black eyes, Silver said, "_**No**_."

The woman looked utterly _shocked_ at his answer. And who could blame her? He just said she couldn't trust him.

_Now, let's see whether this will work..._

"_**No**_." Silver lazily repeated himself. "I don't promise _that_, my lady. And you know such a promise is too good to be true, even if I did say so. After all, who is to say that you will succeed in this entire plan? Getting out of this seaport is only the _first_ step to your goals, and you know it."

Sosono was totally speechless. _**What gall!**_

"Besides that...I don't like burning my bridges." Silver said but then gave her a mysterious grin. "_You_ will either have to burn them for me or..." And this would be his killer line. Silver looked Sosono straight in the eyes again and _purred_ his next words. "Or...you must make me _desire_ to." He enigmatically hinted.

And at that, Sosono took a looooonnng blink.

_You know, they just don't make __**men**__ like this these days_. Sosono happily thought to herself. Honestly, despite the man's young age, he wasn't a _little boy_ she could intimidate and scare. Goodness, how long has it been since she came across an _alpha_ man? How sad was it that she had grown so use to dealing with _boys_ that she had forgotten what it was like to deal with a _real_ man.

Sosono smirked.

How damn _bold_ he was. In essence, Shigeru was telling her that he couldn't be trusted or controlled...unless she _ruled_ him.

_I want to rule him._ Sosono thought. _I want to be the one to rule him._

Sosono gave the silver-haired man a truly _honest_ small smile. "Very well then." She said. "I will allow you to take care of the royal brats at this time." She said. "But only see them until after we've gotten out of this seaport." Then she darkly added. "Is that clear, Shigeru?"

It worked.

Silver Night gave Sosono one of his trademark lazy smiles. "_Very_." He said and then he bowed his gracious head.

Sosono turned around and heavily walked out of the room. She could trust the fact that the odd man wouldn't try any fun business..._for now._

But to rule him...

To give him a reason to burn all his bridges...

Except the bridge to _**her**_...

Well, that was a question she couldn't solve yet, really. This _Shigeru_ was the most unusual of prey to her.

But Sosono had the feeling it would be a _very interesting endeavor_ to find out how to do it.

* * *

_**One Hour Later, Back at the Northern Airport...**_

Byung Gi _knew_ he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Mommy, mommy!" A child loudly said. "Look at all the pretty birdies!" The three-year old said.

"That's nice, dear." An exhausted mother said. "That's so nice." She patted his forehead. " But please, _please_, **please**...just... sit... **down**." She begged. " I'm just too _tired_ with all these flight delays to look."

_Same as me, human._ Byung Gi darkly thought as he rolled his eyes. _Same as me._ In boredom, he causally slid his eyes to the same direction as the tired mother's child's eyes.

_This is...weird._ Byung Gi thought to himself after a moment. _Something about __**this**__ is weird._

There were now _two_ black ravens out on top of his escape airplane and soon a _third_ one joined them in staring at him.

Byung Gi found those three birds...very disturbing.

Aren't ravens usually _solitary_ creatures?

Why was Byung Gi getting the _strangest_ of feelings?

But before he could think about an answer to that strange thought, it was unexpectedly stopped when a loud human TV news program suddenly announced, ""_Breaking News! Special Report!"_ The television yelled. A serious-looking human anchorman came on and immediately started. "_Within this hour Wadaura Seaport just had a major explosion! Hundreds of its portside ships are being evacuated out to sea as we speak. Thankfully, so far we have only confirmed five critical injured persons and -"_

The Royal Korean Governor stared.

Wadaura Seaport?

Damn it! Did he just miss his _real_ chance at escape?

* * *

_**Meanwhile, In the Storm Clouds Near the Northern Airport...**_

_Red._

Lady Commander Seiren felt a truly _hopeless_.

"Prey Tracked." Queen Yuki Kuran darkly smiled as she got up from her seat and move towards the helicopter door. "Seiren, please ensure that our men surround the airport and ensure the safety of the humans. Let's not cause too big of a scene"

This...this wasn't good.

It wasn't good at all!

That look in Yuki's eyes...

"Yuki, my friend, this is far too reckless!" Seiren started to say. "This could lead to our existence being revealed and -"

"Oh, don't worry about something like that!" Yuki waved off her concern. Then she gave Seiren a small angelic smile. "That is not my concern now." Yuki cheerfully said. "And I have tracked down my _first_ prey."

But then Yuki's dark-brown eyes swiftly flashed a violent _red_ color. "_**Nothing**__ and no one will stop me now._" She darkly hissed.

**Oh. My. Darkness. **Seiren thought.**NOT. AGAIN.**

"But Yuki –" Seiren tried.

But then Yuki coldly said. "_Do_ what I've _**ordered**_ you, Seiren."

Seiren stepped back in pure fright.

Her friend's eyes were _now_ a full-blown deadly _crimson _hue.

By darkness! By night! Seiren was not able to reach Yuki now...

_Red_. _**Red**_.

Like it was just a piece of paper, Yuki ripped opened the moving helicopter door with a loud bang. The air pressure from outside nearly caused the helicopter to flip over itself but Pilot Tanaka was quickly able to stabilize it.

Without turning back her head, Yuki whispered."_Come with me, __**Yashiro**_." She said over the chilling wind, "_Follow after me._"

Seiren felt like she had just _lost_ something. Lost something terribly important and now she didn't know what she could _do_.

"_YUKI!_" Seiren screamed. "_NO_!"

But in the _next_ instant, Yuki was _**out**_ of the flying helicopter...

...Out and falling.

Yuki Kuran was falling, _falling_, _**falling**_...

Everything around her was _black_ and _red_ and _brown_ and **white** and **purple** and **silver** and –

_**Falling.**_

Yuki was falling off her _chosen_ cliff.

Falling.

_Lessening_.

**Diminishing**.

But as Yuki fell head first through the darken rain sky - suddenly black butterfly wings appeared on her small back, and she made her way down to the cold brown earth in a more..._civilized..._manner.

But now, it was Yoshiro's turn.

He needed to go, after all.

His huntress did need her bloodhound.

So grinning like the truest of villains, and with his favorite shot gun still cocked around his neck and shoulders, Yoshiro moved into the same exact position that his dark lady queen was in just moments again.

"_Shut that damn door!_" Pilot Tanaka yelled out. "I can't steady this thing until its closed!" But Seiren was frozen stiff – she could barely hear him much less move.

Bu even though Yoshiro's eyes were hidden behind thick dark sunglasses, Seiren knew the evil man was looking directly at her – and that thought scared her more than anything else.

"Do you want to know why _she_ chose me over you?" He mockingly asked.

Seiren nearly spurted with outrage, but she couldn't really say a thing.

And at that, Yoshiro's smirk turned into a dark smile. "Then I will tell you why, army woman." He menacingly said to Seiren. "_I will tell you why_."

Seiren glared daggers at him with all the hate she could muster, but Yoshiro continued to grin at her.

"It is because _we_ both like to _kill_..." He forebodingly whispered "...the _old_ way." And with that he lean out of the helicopter – following his huntress's tracks.

**To be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** ;_; I _pity_ Byung Gi the next chapter when Yuki get's him! O_O' He's not really a _bad_ bad guy, per say. But, well, life ain't fair! XD Oh...and 'the most wanted' mini arc will begin in the next...two chapters! Ha ha! Aren't you guys soooo curious. It won't go _exactly_ as you think, but some of you have been _pretty_ close. X3

However, in order to speed this arc up _faster_...

(Summoning my inner mob boss) I'm gonna make you guys an offer you can't refuse. (Cue Godfather Theme Soundtrack Music.) Do you want two chapters this week, my friend? No? Three? No? How about four? Eh? (Cue violins) Then perhaps I can interest you to say..._five_ brand new chapters _this_ week to kick off the summer? A la Summer Update Madness? Sounds good, eh? (Cue evil mob boss smile) But you see, my friend, in order to have that you and your friends out there need to do something for me...something like...oh, I don't know...giving me a review. _No_. Make that at least _ten_ reviews _per_ a chapter to get them! (Cue heavy villain laugh)

(Dodges a flying flaming tomato)

Well now, that's not nice! XD But the offer _does_ stand, guys! ;)

Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review! ;D Short or long – I love them all! X3


	88. Chapter 87 Chase

**Silver Night**

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Present**

"Well, now," A brumby male human softly said, "This is kinda getting creepy now." He rubbed his hairy chin. "_Very creepy_." He repeated at he looked outside the darkened windows.

Korean Royal Governor Byung Gi Kim couldn't have agreed more with the man, even if he had _tried_.

Over fifty black ravens – ranging in size and shape – were surrounding all the airport windows. Outside, Byung Gi could see countless more birds standing on his escape plane, runaway, and various other airport equipment. There were so many strange birds that even the _humans_ were starting to take notice and point out the odd behavior among themselves.

"We ain't about to be in a _horror_ movie, are we?" The brain-dead human continued on. " 'Cause I think I saw this once in a horror film, and that would be kinda cool to experience."

Byung Gi ignored the human. In fact, Byung Gi ignored _everything_ in the world. Not the humans, not the sounds of the urgently reporting news program and the blaring television screens, and not even his own breathing did he pay full attention too.

Byung Gi was frozen solid.

He hadn't moved one single inch when he truly realized what was going on.

_Oh, Darkness._ He thought to himself. _Oh sweet, sweet night._ _I shouldn't have run. I shouldn't have betrayed. I shouldn't have gotten involved. I shouldn't have – _

And within Byung Gi's justifiably fearful and twisting mind - he thought about the thousands upon thousands of things he should have never done in his life but _stupidly_ did.

More and _more_ black ravens were surrounding the window panels of the small airport. Too soon, the ravens were becoming something like a grand cloud - a grand nightmarish cloud of black wings, beady red eyes, and pointed bills.

Why...why didn't he _realize_ it..._sooner_? Byung Gi felt like _**crying**_. Why had he not realized it at the _first_ suspicious bird.

The Vampire Pureblood Queen of the Far Eastern Realm was _**coming**_. All of these ghoulish birds were _her_ raven familiars.

_By darkness..._

Byung Gi had always _assumed_ that the stories about her past were nothing more than _fiction_. After all, he had personally met the woman numerous times, and she was always the prefect picture of balanced mental health. While somewhat distant, she was _extremely_ kind. Especially when compared to her _husband_ was the epitome of a selfish tyrannical bastard.

But didn't that _same_ selfish tyrannical bastard call his own beloved wife..._a lost and mad dog?_

_**Hadn't he? **_

Yet, without the slightest of warnings, the cold earth started to **tremble**.

* * *

**Chapter Eighty-Seven: Chase**

* * *

**Present **

She landed on the cold black earth like a heaven-sent judgment.

The crater around her was quite large and while such a fall would have killed a lesser mortal, she didn't feel... a... single..._thing._

Silence.

Twin orbs like hellish red flames calmly took in her surroundings.

About half a mile away to her left was a medium-size park and above her were gathering rain clouds. In front of her was the Northern Airport and hundreds upon hundreds of her raven familiars were swarming the area like angry mist. Even from here, she could smell the intense uneasy radiate off the unnerved humans, and their whispers of fear were quickly turning into gradual screams.

What a pleasant fragrance their fear makes.

However, there was one scent, in particular, that she honed on to. A distinct and peculiar scent that was far more beautiful, far more _lovely_, and far more _**wanted**_ that anything else she could yearn for at this moment.

The scent of a fearful pureblood enemy.

What prefect prey.

**BOOM.**

Her fellow hunting dog abruptly landed. His feet were firmly planted on the ground, and he was in a low squat position. Quickly, he straightened himself, cracked his neck to the right in help relax it, and then clicked, locked, and loaded his beloved shot gun, Death's Door, into its optimal position.

Yoshiro Yamamto brightly grinned at her. "What stage of hunting will this hunt be, my lovely dark lady huntress?"

Turning her head to the side, her red eyes vividly blazed as she thought about it.

There are five _different_ stages of hunting and not every hunter went through each stage. Each stage was different, but each stage was important in its own unique way.

The first stage was the _Shooter's Stage._ This stage was the beginning. It was where the hunter talked about and was obsessed with being able to _shoot_. So long as the hunter can use their weapons, that was simply a good hunting day to him or her. This stage was typical of hunters who had just learned how to use a weapon, and thus they were fixated with wanting to test their capability with their chosen firearm. This stage was most dangerous to a hunter's partner or innocent bystanders.

However, she out grew this stage _long_ ago.

To simply use her weapons, fangs, and claws would give her no pleasure in this chase.

The second stage of hunting was the _Limiting Out Stage_. This stage meant that the hunter _still_ got basic satisfaction from just being able to shoot. However, what was _also_ important to the hunter now was the _number of kills that hunter got._ The number of kills and of prey gotten was absolutely essential to the hunter's total satisfaction. For a while, the desire to **best** the previous kill count would grow stronger and _stronger_ in the hunter. It would grow so strong that engaging in 'safe' behavior didn't truly register within the hunter's mind until after the hunt was completed or...the hunter meant his or her end.

However, she also grew out of this stage long, _long_ ago.

To simply engage in wanton destruction and death would give her no enjoyment. Only a simple beast would want that.

And she wasn't a wild ravenous beast.

But...

_A lost and mad __**hunting**__ dog. _

The third stage of hunting was the _Trophy Stage._ In this stage, satisfaction is only derived from getting _specially_ _selected __**prey**_. The chance to shoot and kill became less important at this stage. _Extremely unimportant. _In fact, what was most important was that the hunter was able to get the type of prey he or she _truly_ **desired**. That was the key. Get the prey whom the hunter truly wanted.

However, she grew out of this stage as well. Yes, she had a specially selected quarry as her prey now. And yes, she would take great satisfaction of taking him down. But it wasn't as simple as that. No, not as simple at all.

To simply hunt down her chosen target and kill him would give her no delight.

She didn't just want its' death.

She wanted its' _suffering_ as well.

She wanted its' suffering to mirror her suffering. She wanted its' destruction to mirror her soul's destruction.

She wanted a prefect reflection of her madness.

And that was too much to ask from this stage.

Now, the fourth stage of hunting is the _Method Stage._ At this point in the game, simply shooting, simply killing, simply getting the highly prized trophy isn't **enough**. No. _Not enough at all._ What matters most at this stage is how the hunter got his or her prey in the first place. Questions like - what method did she use to attain her prize? What did she study in order to get her prey? What type of weapon did she use to get it? Did she use a _handicap _in order to attain the prize?

Questions, questions.

Methods, methods.

Truly, it was the _process_ of getting the intended target that was most important at this fourth stage.

However, she didn't know if _this_ was her stage any longer.

Before, she knew that this was her stage. This was where she belonged. She had grown into this stage when she realized that her boundaries and _her rules_ and **her beliefs** no longer kept her darkness at bay.

She had once believed that if she kept her boundaries, rules, and beliefs close to her heart that those three things would never let her go astray. However, what she didn't realize was that all her boundaries, all her rules, and all her beliefs were centered on _**one person**_.

One fragile, innocent person that always tried to do what most souls never could.

And when _**he**_ was gone – she lost her boundaries, her rules, and her beliefs. She lost them all because they were all based on such a _mortal_ foundation.

Then...she started hunting.

Why? Because she knew that just _searching_... lead to utter failure.

Therefore, perhaps hunting - _yes, hunting_ - would not lead to further ruin.

And wasn't that _**his**_ pastime? Wasn't that what _**he**_ did? Wasn't that what _**he**_ excelled at?

And then there was the voice. The voice among thousands of crazy ones. The voice that was like _**him**_ but not him. The voice that kept her, saved her, and trained her. And if she had gotten that voice because she decided to learn how to hunt - wouldn't it be logical to assume that if she continued on this darken path, she would eventually find the one who most remanded her of that voice?

So, she started hunting with one impossible goal in mind. And that impossible goal was to find _them_.

Find _them_. And **him**.

Find the ones who viciously took him from her...

And make them _**PAY**_.

...Because if they _paid_, perhaps he would come back.

Just like how she got the one kind voice in her head.

_But..._

But...she had never found _them_...and thus she never found _**him**_.

And that's the way _that_ story ended.

Silence, again.

**NO. **

She refocused. _What stage was last?_ _What stage was last again?_

Ah, yes.

The fifth and final stage of hunting was the _Sportsman Stage_. At this point, hunting simply becomes a pastime. Yes, a pastime. Satisfaction would only be found in the _total hunting experience._ In the shooting, in the trophy, in the method, in being in the field, in being with the company of liked-minded persons, of seeing and experiencing nature and its surroundings...

_**Everything**_ was important at this stage. And everything was so much more.

However, that was not..._her_...stage. Not really.

This was not a pastime. This was not a sport. There was no enjoyment in this, even if her inner darkness was thrilled because of it.

Therefore, she had no stage to set for this.

Queen Yuki Kurun calmly looked at her Dark Hand and quietly said. "There is no stage."

Yoshiro rapidly blinked. "No stage?" He echoed. "_No stage_?" He repeated. "How can we chase with no stage?" He wondered. "Should we start stage-less?" He asked cocking his capped head to the side.

"No." She held. "We _can't_ go stage-less." She whispered.

"Then...an unknown stage?" Yoshiro innocently asked.

Unknown stage.

_Unknown stage. _

**Unknown stage. **

That...could..._**work**_.

Turning around, Yuki placed her long red-nailed hands on her small hips. "Yes. This will be an unknown stage of hunting." She whispered. "Let us find our _unknown_ meaning in this chase."

* * *

_**Meanwhile, At the Vampire Hunter's Association...**_

As Vice President Kaito Takamiya watched the silence TV in his office, Toga Yagari felt the breath knocked _right_ out of him.

Well, ain't this conversation just the _thing_ he needed to put him in the grave!

Few people in the world _knew_ that Maria Kurenai was the dreaded upper-level vampire blogger _Suzi Biku._ With her Bird's Eye ability, Maria made it a habit of spying on the important members of the Far Eastern Royal Court and airing their dirty laundry to the world at large. That was mostly how she made her living, and the more scandalous the stories the bigger her profit margin.

Aido's many sexual exploits, Ichijo's mental breakdown, and the great mystery of Seiren's sexual orientation were frequent features on her blog. Honestly, Toga didn't really know what to make of it. Sometimes, Maria would come across something that would help them catch one of those dreadful Doll Catchers and Creators, but, most of the time, she aimed her venom against her usual targets, and the vampire world was none the wiser at who 'Suzi Biku' really was.

And then there was her bile against little Yuki.

When his son was viciously murdered...Maria did a complete 180 against Yuki. Toga blinked his only blue eye. To say that Maria _hated_ little Yuki would be the saddest understatements of _all_ times.

Maria just didn't hate her – she _despised_ the woman with every ounce of her being.

And Toga just didn't know _why_. Back in the day weren't the two sort of 'okay' with each other?

Ah, women. They're a scary bunch, you know. They can smile in your face while they'll stab you in the back. _Wow_. A man can never quite understand what goes on with them.

Still, if the brutal venom she had against Yuki was any indication of the depths of her hatred, Toga was _so_ glad Maria _tolerated_ him.

But then he wasn't so sure about that! Because he now believed this very odd noble woman was trying to kill him..._by way of a heartache. _

"Excuse me?" Toga breathlessly said. "_What?"_ He chillingly asked. "What did you just say?"

There was a long pause on the other end.

"I think Zero Kiryu is alive." Maria softly repeated.

_My heart._ Toga thought as he tightly held his small phone. _My poor, __**poor **__**heart**__._

On the other end of the line, Maria continued, "Look, I know I'm crazy to think this." She said to the shocked old hunter. "I'm really freaking crazy, _but_...but it's the only explanation I can think of."

_By the Sword of Blood!_ Obviously, this woman was totally crazy - batshit-level insane. But, for some strange reason, Toga knew that _she_ believed her words true. Toga _knew_ that...and he didn't really know if he should pity her or what.

"I believe Zero Kiryu is alive." Maria exclaimed again. "Zero Kiryu was alive! He is alive and well and –"

Toga let out a great heavy sigh. He didn't know what to think about her, but he _did_ pity her. Still, in order to continue on with this conversation, he needed to shut down all of his emotions.

Oh, brother. He was going to have to rain on her delusional parade.

"Girl, I don't like being _played_ with." He bitterly snarled. "What makes you think my son is still alive?" He darkly asked. "The whole world knows he's dead." He cuttingly hissed. "Why don't you?"

Maria went extremely quiet on the other line. "But that's the only explanation to this!" She nearly yelled. "I saw him in a _recent_ picture!"

**Saw**...**him**?

In...a...**recent**..._**picture**_?

Toga didn't pray, but he felt like he wanted to at this moment. If what she said was _true_, - and he would give anything, _anything at all_, for what she was saying to be true – but...no.

No. _No_. **No**.

Vampire Hunters did not..._hope..._so easily.

And so Toga decided to cut her down from her high.

"_Where_ was this picture taken?" Toga quietly asked.

Maria paused. Happiness built up inside her as she realized he might believe her! _Thank the Darkness! _Maria needed _someone_ to believe her! If not, then perhaps she _was_ going to go crazy with her bitterness. So, Maria honestly answered. "Inside the lobby of the King's Red Building of The Imperial Hotel." She said.

"The same building that snake bastard is staying at?" Toga expressionlessly questioned.

"Y-yes." She hesitatingly answered.

"And what was he _doing_?" Toga pointedly asked.

There was another long pause on the end, but soon Maria answered. "He was...carrying the slut's daughter to her room."

Toga felt a chilling silence grow within him.

While the words were mean, Toga said them as _gently_ as he could. "Do you know how _stupid_ you sound, child?"

Maria started to defend herself. "B-but the _man_ in the picture had _silver hair_ and –"

"So what?" Toga bit off. "Many regular vampires have that unique coloring! Hell! Those Toma purebloods had _blue_ hair!" Toga hissed at her "That means absolutely nothing!"

Kaito gave him an owl-eyed look, but he couldn't control him now! Toga started to raise his voice. "And do you really think _Zero_ would be anywhere _near_ the pureblooded monster who tried to have him _murdered_?"

Wow.

When you put it that way...

Maria felt incredibly stupid in this moment. The answer to _that_ question was _obvious_.

Not on _this_ planet would Zero Kiryu go anywhere near that pureblood prick bastard after what the monster had done.

But trying to save face with her stupid idea, Maria said, "Well..._well_... isn't it possible... that one with... _Kiryu blood_ is working for that monster?"

Well, _that's_ not a stretch. Toga growled to himself.

Bah! There _isn't_ any more full-blooded Kiryus – end of story. Not at all! Zero was the last of the last, and that was the end of the matter.

But..._part-_blooded Kiryus?

_Maybe_.

But that didn't _mean_ anything.

Little known fact, Zero's grandfather - the late Tai Kiryu - was one of the co-founders of the Gray Panthers Hunter's Bar. However, he was _also_ the worst drunken womanizer that every graced the Far Eastern Hunter Clans. The man was only bested by that Aido noble vampire for all of his lecherousness ways.

But in a _very_ sad way - that could have been _good_ news for the weakening Hunter Clans. The bloodlines of hunters were thinning out as it were, and powerful vampire hunters were becoming less and less common now. Unfortunately, the notorious Kiryu lecher tended to focus his lustful attentions on normal _non-hunter_ human women with his womanizing ways.

_Sigh. _

A vampire hunter could only be born of _two_ hunter parents. Thus, both parents had to be hunters themselves or have pure hunter's blood in them in order to have hunter _children_, especially nowadays with the thinning bloodlines.

It was a terrible irony, though. If _only_ Tai Kiryu had focused his lustful attentions on _hunter_ women like he did normal women, then Toga was sure he would have an army of powerful Kiryu vampire hunters today.

And thus, his promise to protect the last of the Kiryus would have been accomplished and that ancient and powerful clan line would have never ended so..._pitifully_.

Still, Kyo Kiryu _despised_ his father's pervert ways. In fact, Kyo Kiryu had been considered the black sleep of the Kiryu Clan when he was alive.

And that revealed even _darker_ secrets about that old hunting clan.

The Kiryu Line was notorious in the Far Eastern Vampire Hunting Clan circles for not only producing the _best_ type of hunters, but also the _darkest_ of them.

Toga shuddered as he remembered some of the dark tales Kaien Cross would tell him about Tai Kiryu who was _his_ first hunting partner. Tai Kiryu was part of the reason why Kaien became something of a peace-loving softie. He was one of the most _vicious_ bastard whom every walked the face of the earth. Hunters feared him. Vampires detested him. Truly and utterly was that man hated. And so hated was he that it was only until he _retired_ that the vampires even began to humor their presence during their council meetings.

But unlike his father and his two older brothers, Kyo Kiryu was the _second_ type of vampire hunter. The vampire hunter who hunted to _protect_ and not the first type to hunt because they found it '_fun_.'

That and many other things lead to the great rip between him and his family that lasted until the gray fatherly panther died.

Still, Kyo _was_ the outcast of his family and was the opposite of his father and older brother in every possible way. He found a nice girl, Masa, who was originally from the small hunting Clan of Osha, faithfully married her and the rest was history. For Masa, at first it was like a heaven-sent blessing. Her Clan was slowly weakening in vampire hunting powers, so her marriage to Kyo Kiryu was the _best_ match their family had seen in a hundred years. Still, those two grew to love each other very much and Zero and Ichiru were the results.

Nevertheless, Tai Kiryu had never been invited to their wedding.

And _that_ was probably what made the man drink himself to death because of it. His first two sons had been killed before they reached thirty. Falling to the fate of the rotten first type of hunter. But being cut out of his youngest son's life was the final nail in the coffin for Tai.

Sometimes, though, in the back of Toga's mind, he was extremely grateful that it had been _Zero_ that had been the one to inherit the Kiryu family's hunting powers. Ichiru would have definitely been the first type of hunter. Anyone with a brain could have seen that. That child was far too bitter and lonely to be anything else.

However, when Zero's family had been massacred, there _was_ a time where Toga thought Zero would have gone onto that dark path. The boy had been lifeless, stony, and unfeeling, and if it wasn't for little Yuki's tender lovingly regard for him...Toga didn't even want to _think_ of how Zero would have turned out.

Little Yuki was Zero's light. She had helped him come out of that dark and bloody mental place that would have surely consumed his soul if left on his own.

Still, by now, Toga was _sure_ that the possible hunter genes within Tai Kiryu's _many_ normal-human descendants had probably died out by now.

So, _that_ possibility Maria had suggested wasn't open either.

"You would have a better chance at _dividing_ the number zero, Maria." Toga darkly punned. "You might even get something out of doing that." He mocked. "No Kiryu would willingly serve _that_ beast."

On the other end, Maria couldn't say a thing, but their silence was broken by the most unexpected of things.

"Well...shit." Kaito suddenly said. "The world has finally gone stone-cold crazy."

Toga rolled his eye and gave the uncouth man a look. However, Kaito's wizen face was glued to the television.

"_Breaking News! Special Report!"_ The television said. Quickly, a handsome human anchorman came on the air. "_We have just received reports that Wadaura Japanese Port just had an explosion! Hundreds of ships were being evacuated out to sea as we speak, and so far we have only confirmed five critical injured persons –"_

Now completely pissed off, Toga glared at Kaito and thus the man promptly shut the thing off.

Now was _not_ the time for that. While things like that was happening more and more in this part of the world, humans could handle their _own_ problems. Toga just couldn't find it in himself to chase after any new tribulations.

* * *

_**Simultaneously, Back At The Northern Airport... **_

As Queen Yuki Kuran stood on the great roof of the Northern Airport, she felt the ancient thrill of a predator sing through her veins.

But even though life seemed so much more..._alive_ - she felt so..._dead_.

Everything seemed to be moving faster, but Yuki felt like she was frozen. Like she was watching everything at a far away distance. Like she was nothing more than an observer passing the time.

But that was neither here nor there or anything at all.

"I will smoke it out of its den." Yuki slowly told Yoshiro. "I will force it onto our killing field." She continued. "But you will only _damage_ it...not kill it." She ordered. "I have many questions of it still." She added. "So, do you understand, my Yoshiro?" She calmly asked with bloody eyes.

Yoshiro raised Death's Door with a smile. "Yes, my dark lady huntress."

* * *

A majestic _impulse_ of terrifying dark power ripped through the air and slammed into the cold earth below.

The earth _shuddered_.

Anything glass or glass-like screamingly shattered into a million different pieces and dust and trash moved from their designed places.

The very clouds above seemed to nearly lose their closely guarded spoils, but a few thick drops of cold rain seemed to slam down on the fractured earth. The human women in the airport were screaming. The human children were crying, and the human men were yelling, but unlike them, Byung Gi Kim felt like only was the only person who had a _real_ reason to scream, cry, or yell out.

Yes, only he.

Why?

Because only _he_ understood what was truly going on!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Flashing red lights and foggy horns erupted inside the lightly crowded airport. _"Attention Passengers! We are experiencing a real natural disaster-"_

_There was nothing about this that was natural!_ Byung Gi thought.

The announcer continued. "_But please remain calm. Our service providers will soon assist you with-" _

Unexpectedly, Byung Gi felt his heart _**stop**_.

Oh, Kami, _why?_

Before his very eyes, he saw a _woman_. And not just any woman. A woman with frightening red eyes calmly stared at him in the midst of the screaming human crowd. She stood alone – as if she was totally separated from her surroundings. Like she was in another dimension entirely, and that dimension was a place that only contained _**her**_ and _**him**_.

Now, a logical part of Byung Gi Kim's mind told him that he shouldn't be afraid. After all, he too was a pureblood vampire and, in fact, he was a far _older_ pureblood than she was. Therefore, surely he was more powerful than her, right?

_Right? _

Without warning, a deadly telekinetic wave of sinister killing intent seemed to _engulf_ him. The wave of crushing power, of promising bloody result, of soon-coming death – chocked the air right out of his lungs.

And then...that murderous wave _instantly_ _**gone**_.

Like it was never there. Like it hadn't even happened.

But a chilling calm emptiness replaced it.

They looked at each other for a moment.

The Royal Governor of Korea silently stared at the Vampire Pureblood Queen of the Far Eastern Realm, Yuki Kuran.

He as a man without a plan. A man who just allowed life to happen to him. A bad son, a terrible brother, an okay husband, and a happy father.

She was the wife of Kaname Kuran, mother of Juri and Haruka Kuran, Lost Mad Dog, and Broken Huntress.

And then she gently smiled at him.

"Run." She whispered. "_Run_." And then she was gone.

Byung Gi _**ran.**_

* * *

The elite soldiers of the Shadow's Red Faction snapped to attention.

"Alpha – Secure North of the Terminal. Bravo – Secure the Gates. Commando – Secure the Inside." Seiren's second assistant, Osamu Tanaka, commandeered.

Seiren was _out of her mind_ with worry!

There was nothing she could do to stop Yuki's rampage and the only person that could stop her was probably hundreds of miles away in West or South Japan by now.

By night, this was perhaps the first time in her life that Seiren _wished_ that Kaname was here.

In the past, when Yuki got like this – _nothing_ was off limits. Anything that moved – Hell, anything that _breathed_ – was mercilessly mowed down like disposable blades of grass. Men, women, humans, vampires, animals – it didn't seem to matter to her when she was in this hellish state.

Everything was fair game.

There could be another massacre now!

_**IT CAN NOT HAPPEN!**_

Seiren would not allow it.

Because not only would that unsteady their already _fragile_ position with the clueless humans, when Yuki 'woke up' from her bloodthirsty state, and she had the crushing realization that she had reverted back to _**this**_ again ...it would destroy her even further.

And she would spiral further out of control.

Falling. _Falling_. _**Falling further into her madness**_ ...which was perfectly fueled by her intense guilt.

By darkness, there would be no stopping her if she _totally_ lost it now. Not even Kaname would be able to pull her back from this, because Yuki had once told her the _real_ reason why she came back to herself. She had told her and Sayori the night before she gave birth to her twin children.

And that reason was...

The late Zero Kiryu's last wish for her.

The '_Please be happy, Yuki'_ wish.

Oh Kami...why were such _important_ things based on something so delicate?

But the army woman had no time for this – she needed to save as many people as possible!

"GET THESE HUMANS OUT OF HERE - NOW!" Seiren roared like a lioness, completely losing her normally cool and collected self. "WE CANNOT HAVE AN _INCIDENT_ HERE!" She barked.

"YES, MA'AM!" Her soldiers answered, and they scattered like winter leaves.

* * *

By all that is dark and unholy!

Her hellish face was everywhere!

On every poster...

On every sign...

On every human...

On fucking _**EVERYTHING!**_

The black birds outside were now shrieking! Their delighted screeches added to the painful music of the terrified humans, and soon they were rushing into the cold building because of the shattered window panels.

Still, everything Byung Gi's panicky black eyes landed on to _was_ her, _reminded_ him of her, or was a _part of her._

Her. _Her_. Her. **Her**. Her.

His huntress. His predator.

And he was _her prey_.

Byung Gi ran like a man possessed. There was no rhyme or reason – there was no plan, no thinking – he didn't know where he was anymore or where he was going – he was _just running._

Running...

_Running_...

_**Running away...**_

... Like a man hounded by a doggish beast fresh out of Hell.

* * *

His dark lady queen was so beautiful to him at this moment.

Standing up straight, her fangs brightly shinned. Her large eyes were a malicious crimson red, and her _ears_ were bleeding. Her pure blood seemed to drip down her earlobes like macabre earrings. However, she paid none of it any attention.

_Pretty._ He thought. _So very pretty, pretty._

"Get ready, Yoshiro." She suddenly hissed out. "The quarry is approaching our _killing field_." She exposed her large pearl fangs in a grim smile. "Get ready to subdue his escape."

Yoshiro smirked. Really? So soon?

What a simple scaredy-cat!

* * *

Seiren aided in the removal process as best as she could.

"Clear the zone! Clear the zone!" Her vampire soldiers – pretending to be human police officers - called out. "Move. _Move_. **Move**."

Like well-organized ants in search for the last bits of food before winter's descended, they tracked down every single human they could find and place them into the secured area.

Lies were told.

Threats were given.

Lights were knocked out.

Thus, these elite soldiers did anything and everything they could to get every single human being they could find out of harm's way. Because regardless of what they thought about the matter, there were far greater things to fear than death.

Like punishment...

...Given by an enraged Vampire Queen Mother.

* * *

Thunder and lightning exploded all around them.

But the two waiting hunters neither moved nor felt anything.

"_Ready?"_ Yuki tonelessly asked.

"Yes." Yoshiro grinned. He was in position - he was just waiting for the word!

"_Aim."_ Yuki commanded.

"Of course." Yoshiro grin brightened. His finger on the trigger.

"And now..." Yuki started to utter. "Now –"

And Yoshiro suddenly came _alive_.

He came alive at _this_ exact moment.

* * *

Run. _Run_. **Run**.

_FREEDOM!_ Byung Gi Kim thought as he exploded out of the airport and saw the close by park. _BLESSED FREEDOM!_ He internally cried.

If he made it to _there_...he would be _**safe**_.

Safe. _Safe_. **Safe**.

So, run.

_Run_.

Byung Gi would soon be able to take the needed cover, and thus he would be able to get far **away!**

And, and, and –

He would get into the city's subway system, and then his hunters would lose sight of him!

And, and, and -

And that _blasted evil bitch_ won't be able to find him!

And, and, and –

_**PAIN.**_

_Burning black pain_ ripped through the older pureblood man's exhausted belly.

_Run, Byung Gi._ He thought himself. _All you have to do is run._

But there was a high-caliber bullet hole directly before his feet.

Nevertheless, he _**tried**_.

* * *

So, her prey still wanted to run, eh?

For a moment, Yuki was quite impressed with her prey's fortitude and desire to get away.

One shot from Yoshiro's Death Door would crush bone and ripped out great pieces of vampire flesh.

But if he was _so determined_ to get away...

She should give him her best then.

Yuki gave Yoshiro an angelic smile. "Fire at will, my dear."

And grinning like a soulless villian, Yoshiro carefully aimed and lovingly fired.

* * *

He could hear nothing but silence and his own voice in his mind.

_I...will...not...go...down._ Byung Kim thought to himself as he continued to push himself. _I...will...not...I...will..not..._

He needed to get back to his people and tell them that -

_**BOOM! **_

Another anti-vampire bullet ripped through the desperately limping pureblood's right knee cap – completely tearing off his right leg.

_I...will..not...fall..._Byung Gi promised to himself. _I... will... not...fall..._

He...he.. _needed_ to get back to his family and tell them that -

_**BOOM! **_

And another anti-vampire bullet tore through the wrist of his reaching hand – forcing the fleshy thing to fall to the ground with a large bang.

_I...must..not..tumble..._He wished. _I... must... not... tumble..._

H-H-He...he n-needed to see his w-wife and their n-n-newborn c-child and tell them that he lo-

_**BOOM! **_

The last anti-vampire bullet ruptured through the back of the fleeing rebel's neck. Blood squirted out of his throat like a raging red river.

And, finally, Royal Korean Governor Byung Gi Kim went _down_.

* * *

**Silence. **

There was nothing but _silence._

All the roof windows of the airport were broken, and Seiren looked up to see what she could see.

All she could see was a cloudy black sky.

A darken cloudy afternoon sky.

But as soon as her mind registered the black sky, heavy rain drops started to fall down into her.

The _silence_ continued.

For some reason, these raindrops felt _so warm._

* * *

_**A Moment Later...**_

Walking over to the bleeding man, Queen Yuki Kuran brightly smiled at her disabled prey. Those four shots won't kill him, being a pureblood, but they sure didn't make him feel any better.

She would know. She did have an experience with them...once.

Still, as Yoshiro pointed his Death's Door's large gun barrel against her prey's bloody forehead as a thoughtful _warning_, Yuki quietly asked. "Are you done running, my friend?"

_Friend?_

Oh, if nothing else, Byung Gi felt a wave of pure hatred against her at this moment.

Byung Gi glared up at his huntress with _extreme_ revulsion.

He was slouched over in a pool of his own fresh blood now. And being so close to death, nothing _– absolutely not one __**fucking**__ thing_ - could frighten him now.

Especially not some kept cheating bitch of a tyrant bastard!

"Go to hell, you worthless slut!" He said. _"Go to fucking hell, monster!"_

Smiling brightly, Yuki dung her spiked black shoe heel though the man's _remaining_ hand. The man screamed, but it was like such a sound didn't even bother to register in her bleeding ears.

"Let's take everything into account, shall we?" She told him softly. "You currently have...five fingers and ten toes left."

Byung Gi blinked. _What?_ He totally didn't get it.

But the Queen Huntress heedlessly continued, and she pulled out her gun. "This is my Anti-Vampire Weapon, The Crimson Thorne." She said, and she fixed the weapon firmly into her small delicate hands. "It is a very special weapon to me, you see." Yuki smiled. "It was given to me by someone who loved me very much. So much that he _died_ because of it."

Byung Gi wanted to _spit_ at her.

So, not only was she a kept cheating bitch, she was also a _crazy_ kept cheating bitch. _Wonderful._

" However, while it is a small weapon, if I hit a vital organ with it, any vampire, whether pureblood, noble, or common, will _instantly_ be killed by it." She continued to smile with a smile on her face. "However, what if I miss a vital spot?" She rhetorically asked. "What if I missed and hit a _non-vital_ spot?"

And for some inexplicable reason, Byung Gi stared to break out into a cold sweat.

"Within Crimson Throne's bullets is an anti-vampire anti-cure liquid that disables all healing capabilities of most vampires - _permanently_." Yuki calmly explained, "The sensations when it works is something like being _**boiled alive**_ within your own skin. Sort of like a living forever in your own personal hell." She grinned as she added. "And it works _best_ on purebloods."

Byung Gi could only look at her.

And when he met the Queen's eyes – his soul became like ice.

**Deadness**.

She was dead already and she just didn't know it.

By Night, Byung Gi felt his soul _**die...**_

Ah, that's it.

Yuki had finally figured it out. _Yes, she did._ She had finally figured out why she was _hunting_ this man, and _why_ she was in this _unknown_ stage.

**Children.**

She was doing this for her children..._their children_...**his child**...

"So," She started again, "if I were to miss a vital part of you...that doesn't mean that it will be the end." Her bright-red eyes were _too_ empty. "Therefore, I will happily blow of each piece of you off - over and over again - until you either beg me to die or...tell me _**where my beloved children are?" **_

Byung Gi could only stare. She was mad and lost! _Lost and mad!_

_Like a lost and mad dog. _

Queen Yuki Kuran gave him another angelic smile.

And Byung Gi started to _**truly **tremble_.

"Let's start with your left hand's middle finger, shall we?" Yuki softly requested.

**To be Continued. **

* * *

**A/N:** Soooo, who is scarier to you? Kaname or Yuki X3

On a different side note...(Puts on glasses) Hmmm. So...I take it that I will have to keep updating for this week, eh? One new chappter for _at least_ 10 reviews each! (Cue evil mob boss laughter) Well, let's have a fun week together, shall we! I will keep up my end, if you will! ;D

Next, the Mini Arc you are all waiting for is definitely starting...the chapter after the _next_ one. XD I know it seems that I've been putting it off, but I haven't! It...just...got...very, _very_ complicated...and _dark_...and looooonnng. -_-'

Hearts will be broken. Souls will be crushed. Goodness, I _did_ intent for it to be _short_ 3-part arc but that...didn't...happen... (Weeps) Still, I am trying to blend these 'past arcs' with what will happen next more seamlessly in the current flow of the story! These 'past arcs' are mostly written to show Kaname/Zero/Yuki's character development and various connections to each other. Clearly, my three have far more complexity in concept than cannon. (Yes, I'm shade-throwing – but at least its university-level shade throwing! XD I still can't believe VK ended like that. SMH.) Therefore, I don't like 'bringing them out' until they truly add _more_ to the present story. But it is coming! In fact, it must soon come! XD

Now to tickle you even further for things yeeet to ever come...I will evilly inform you that the following arc after this one will here by be dubbed...the 'Discovery Arc'. What that _really_ means I will not reveal for now! (Cue the evil authoress laugh)

(Dodges a pineapple.) Wow. You guys are upgrading I see! ;P

Still, thanks for reading and please leave your feelings in a review – short or long, I love them all! :)


	89. Chapter 88 Hound

**Silver Night **

* * *

**Present **

As Byung Gi Kim laid _dying_, for some reason, he felt like..._laughing_.

Yes, laughing.

And he _would_ laugh, you know. He would _surely_ laugh.

_If he could... _

Between his ripped lips, Byung Gi hissed, "You're... _not_... a _mad...dog_!" He amusingly whispered. "What you are..._what you are_...is a... _**rabid**_ _**wolf**_!" He cursed at his huntress while his eyes darken. "_**A rabidly insane wolf!**_"

Irritated at the dying pureblood's insult, Yoshiro Yamamoto knocked the cold and bloody barrel of his Death's Door against the bleeding man's head. "_She is huntress, prey_." He blackly snarled. "She is _my_ lovely queen." He knocked that man's head again. "Show respect, _it_."

At the last blow, the light of awareness in Byung Gi's eyes..._died_.

But, _amazingly_, he was still _**breathing**_.

Amazing.

So..._it_ was still not dead.

Yet.

She frowned.

Something inside her was tightening.

Tightening. _Tightening_. **Tightening**.

And she..._and she_...

Her hands were _shaking_. Her heart was _beating_. The body's blood was _racing_.

Tightening. _Tightening_. **Tightening**.

Nonetheless, now completely _bored_, Yoshiro whipped his big shot gun around on shoulders again and hung his arms around it. Cracking his neck to the side, he calmly asked, "Will you kill _it_ now, my dark lady huntress queen?"

She could only stare at him.

Because at his causally asked question...a thousand of her inner demon voices assaulted her fragile mind.

_Hard_.

_**She couldn't breathe!**_

KILL IT! They screamed.

KILL IT_! KILL IT! _They pleaded.

KILL IT! _KILL IT!_ **KILL IT!** They begged.

It was so hard to _think_. It was so very, _very_ **hard** _now_.

The _Vampire Pureblood Queen of the Far Eastern Realm_ felt like she was falling _totally_ _out of control._

Her base instincts, her overwhelming darkness, and her thousands upon thousands of vile voices – somehow united together at this moment to _torment_ her.

Her eyes were _still_ a hellish crimson hue – though dimming with brilliance and current understanding. Even though she had un-summoned her raven familiars, bright fresh blood continued to slowly dripping out of her ringing ears and that reduced her outside hearing by about seventy percent. Within her, she felt her darkness _scream_ at her to kill. **To kill it.** _To kill it again. _And after it was dead – to go out and find a new thing to kill.

Kill. _Kill_. **Kill**. Until the entire world was killed.

**NO!**

_Be still, my darkness._ She desperately thought to herself. _Please be still, please._

Her prey – no, this...p-p-person...was not a bug or plant or animal or thing that she could simply consume and destroy.

This p-p-person was a _being_.

A thinking, feeling being and, _and_, **and** -

But her baser instincts and the voices – oh, those terrible, _terrible_ voices – were...not...**listening**...to..._**her**_.

MURDER IT! They screamed.

MURDER IT! _MURDER IT!_ They pleaded.

MURDER IT! _MURDER IT!_ **MURDER IT!** They begged.

_But_...

But she _nearly_ had already. She nearly had.

Prey. Pureblood. _Person?_

She looked down at _it._

Had this p-p-person _not_ been a p-p-pureblood, it – no, he – would die a looooong before this.

This p-p-person looked like a p-piece of bloody meat. A p-piece of bloody meat. He was still breathing...and being a p-pureblood he would be able to _live_...despite the awful d-d-damage...but..._but_...such d-damage would take..._centuries_ to truly heal...without _additional_...intervention.

She looked down. She looked down at it – _he_ – and she wondered.

She wondered, _wondered_, _**wondered**_.

The Broken Huntress wondered many strange things in this moment of pure madness.

If _**he**_ had ever **seen** this side of her..._**he**_ would have **never ever** have **loved** her right?

_Right?_

If _**he**_ – her _love_, her _true-love mate_, her true love mate the _hunter_, her true love mate the hunter n-named _**Zero**_ – _**he**_ would..._**not have loved her**_..._right_?

Because she was..._she was_...a...

_... a dog? _

_...a wolf? _

_...a beast?_

_**Memory Flash!**_ "_The Headmaster talks about the Night Class like they're good vampires who support his pacifism, but I don't trust them. I won't let my guard down. I'm cooperating so I can find the most effective way to kill those beasts in human form." Zero Kiryu coldly explained._ _**End Flash!**_

_Beast in human form_..._**he**_ had said. _Find the most effective way to kill __**those**__ beasts in human form. _

Like she is...yes?

But then she looked down on the still bleeding thing. _Like __**it**__ is...was..._

Like this thing – _p-p-person_ – was? This thing – _person_ – was a _beast in human form._

And humans, like love, were so _fragile_. Very fragile. _Extremely fragile_.

_Like trying to hold onto sunlight... _

The Broken Huntress looked down at her prey – _person_ – and her crimson eyes flashed with joyous compromise.

Sooo, she should kill it? _Right?_ Right?

That's what _**he**_ would have done. And _**he**_ did love her, no?

_He_ did love her and _only her,_ and **she loved him** and _she wanted him to be proud of her_ and, _and_, **and**...

She pointed Crimson Throne at the _thing's_ head.

Yes. KILL!

**She would kill. **

FOR **HIM**. _In memory of him._

_But.._

But she only had ten bullets left. _Ten._ Down from the 19 of before.

It was very stubborn, you know. _Very stubborn_. He lasted so very, _very_ long in her bloody game...and if she used _another_ wouldn't that mean she would only have...nine?

Nine.

Nine. _Nine_.

**Nine. **

What was it about this number of _nine_ that was so important?

_**Memory Flash! **__"I'm thinking of getting a __**nine**__ to five job." Zero causally remarked to her as he washed their dishes inside his spotless apartment's kitchen. _

_Yuki stared at him. "You can't do that!" She said. "You hunt during the night!" She exclaimed. "How will you even sleep?" She rolled her eyes. "You might pretend to be Superman's Little Brother, but even __**you**__ need sleep, Zero!"_

_Zero smirked. _

"_Big brother." He sassily corrected. "I would be his __**big**__ brother." _

_However, before Yuki could smack him for him for his smart remark. "Anyways, I am thinking of giving up vampire hunting, Yuki." Zero seriously said. "I've already talked to Toga about it, and he's...welll, not exactly __**accepting**__...but he __**understands**__."  
_

_Yuki blinked her large dark-brown eyes. What? Something about this didn't feel right to her! "But hunting is like your life, Zero!" She exclaimed. "How can you give up something so __**important**__ to you?" _

_Zero rolled his bright lavender eyes. "__**You're my life, Yuki**__." He causally waved off - soap bubbles flying everywhere. "You're my life __**now**__, Yuki." Then he went back to washing a silver fork. _

_Yuki felt an instant warmness hug her womanly heart. She felt so incredibly cheerful and gushy!_

_Zero would always say the most wonderful of things at the __**least**__ expected times. _

_But Zero wasn't done. "And what if something happens to me when I'm out on the field? What will happen to you, eh?" Then he smirked. "You'll probably starve to death without me here to cook for you." _

_It took a while for her brain to get over her cozy feelings...but her feminine pride had just been insulted! Therefore, it must be defended!_

"_YEAH!" Quickly whipping her drying towel over her shoulder, Yuki lightly smacked him on the shoulder. "I CAN and DO cook, mister!" _

"_Sure you do." Zero waved off again with a teasing grin. "Every time you present me with something to eat I feel very special, you know." Then Zero's teasing smirk grew bigger. "I feel like a __**god**__ whenever you cook for me." _

_Yuki looked at him owl-eyed. She wasn't exactly sure what he __**meant**__ by that. _

_But Zero wasn't one to let her remain clueless about his sassy intentions. "After all, you always present __**burnt offerings **__before me." _

_And then he merrily ran away – a livid to-be-wife at his smirking heels. __**End flash! **_

**SILENCE. **

The Huntress, no, _Yuki_...felt...dazed.

She..._**he**_...happy...

_No_..._hunting_...**no killing**..._no?_

What was she supposed to do now? By darkness, Yuki felt confounded and extremely mystified at this moment. _Unfortunately_, that was **not** the case with her inner voices.

BUTCHER IT! They screamed.

BUTCHER IT! _BUTCHER IT!_ They pleaded.

BUTCHER IT! _BUTCHER IT!_ **BUTCHER IT!** They begged.

_She couldn't take it anymore._

Yuki aimed the nozzle of her beloved weapon back that the thing's, - no, _beast's_ – head.

She just wanted them all to _**shut up now**_. They were ruining _everything_. _**Everything!**_ And killing this beast, _murdering this beast_, and **butchering this beast** was the best way to do..._what?_

_**What exactly?**_

But without warning, her private helper suddenly came to her rescue.

_**QUIET.**_ A sole tender voice gently said. _**ALL BE QUIET NOW.**_

The _Zero-like_ voice! Yuki's eyes flashed. The Zero-like voice _was awake now_.

And he was _fighting_ them. He was fighting away the other voices. He was putting them far, _far_ away from her soul.

Instantly, Yuki felt..._calm_.

_She wasn't alone anymore...not really..._

The dark tension that was trapped within her suddenly seemed to drain out of her like a boiled noodle. Her flashing red eyes dimmed back to its natural dark-brown.

_Alone but not really..._

But in the next instant, Lady Commander Seiren appeared by her side. "_Yuki?"_ The purple-headed woman slowly asked. "Yuki...are you okay?"

_Okay?_ Not in the slightest.

But it has been that way for a long, _long_ time already...right?

After all, how can _her world_ have peace when its _**sun**_ goes out?

But Yuki lowered her gun - totally ignoring Yoshiro's disapproving frown.

"We have the information that we needed." Yuki expressionlessly said. She could talk, but her voice box felt like moving sandpaper. "The kidnappers aren't traveling by _air_, but by _sea_." She explained. "Starting from Waduara Seaport."

Seiren stared at her for a _long_ while. While it was probably a few seconds, to Yuki it felt like a century.

But then, when one loves – doesn't one year few like a second? Yet when one loses love – doesn't one second feel like an eternity?

And she lived thousands of years in her seconds.

Seiren finally sighed with relief.

Yuki was back. She was _finally_ back.

But still not completely.

Seiren _knew_ that would never be the case. Yuki would never be fully back. But, by night, if only Yuki hadn't made a true-love bond with the late hunter...she wouldn't be so lost and broken today.

Yuki stared down at the unconscious victim of her latest episode of spiraling madness.

"_You're not a mad dog!" _He said. "_But a rabidly insane wolf!"_

_Dog...wolf...beast..._

_What did it matter?_ Yuki relaxed her tease shoulders. As long as the creature she was could hunt...that was all that mattered. And she was far from done hunting... yet.

But...

She would not _hunt_ as **broken** as she was before.

Because Zero once told her he only wanted her to be happy. But she could only be happy in his arms.

But if she couldn't be happy in his arms, she refused to be happy as a wild beast. He wouldn't want that, so she wouldn't want that, but that did that mean anything in the end?

* * *

**Chapter Eighty–Eight: Hound**

* * *

**Present**

For once in his young teenage life, Prince Haruka Kuran was fantastically _happy_ to see his twin sister's face upon cracking open his tender eyeballs.

Princess Juri Kuran brightly smiled at her 'younger' brother. "Thank the Night!" She brightly beamed. "You are finally awake! I was getting so worried!"

For a moment, Haruka could only stare. He felt _extremely_ weak and tender. It also felt like all of his four limbs were replaced with cement. However, he was _very glad_ that he had someone he knew (and quietly loved) with him right now, even if she was too snazzy for his tastes.

Haruka did not feel good - _at all._ But it was _tolerable_, so he wouldn't complain. He was still alive, after all. Nothing is worse than death!

"_Juri_..." Haruka winced. _Whoa_. Even his throat felt like scratching paper!

Juri snapped her fingers. "Oh boy!" She said. "Wait a second here, Haruka!" She got up. "I will give you some water!"

Immediately, Juri was gone from his line of sight, but Haruka heard a slow rumbling somewhere around his left side. Haruka frowned. Despite how Juri seemed back to her _normal_ self, she wasn't moving as quickly as she generally did.

Usually, Juri moved like a butterfly on speed, and Haruka was somewhat glad she wasn't like that now. He wouldn't have been able to handle the soon-coming headache her rapid movements would have caused.

Nevertheless, Haruka could hardly summon the energy necessary for him to turn his head and look at what his sister was doing, but in the next moment, Juri's face reappeared before him, and she was holding up a half glass of water near his lips.

Haruka looked at the half-filled glass in disbelief. Juri blushed a bright red. "I thought Mrs. Song would have come back by now to give us more water and a change of clothes, but she hasn't returned since the ship started moving. "

_What?_

Ship?

Haruka continued to stare at her.

Oh...he had a _whole_ bunch of questions now!

Still, before he spoke again, he needed the water. Grimacing, Haruka lightly indicated that he wanted the water and Juri easily picked up his intentions. She gently helped Haruka drink, and after he was done drinking, Haruka cleared his throat and asked, "Where are we Juri? And how did _you_ get here?"

Juri's face fell. "Goog Song attacked me and put something in me that made me very sick and dizzy, bro." She honestly explained. "If it wasn't for Silver, I might have ended up worst." She blushed.

_**Goog Song...again? **_

_Why that dirty little bastard! _Haruka angrily thought. _How dare he hurt my sister_! _I'm going to kill him! _He nastily vowed. _I am so going to kill that evil punk the next time I see him! _

First, he slanders his mother, then he attacks him, and after which he goes and attacks his sister? Oh, Haruka was going rip that asshole a new hole when he saw him next! Damn that evil freak! The next time Haruka saw him he was going to show him the gates of hell and torture–

Wait a minute..._Silver_?

_**The flying hell?**_

"What happened to Silver?" Haruka anxiously asked. "What happened to him?"

By darkness, if he, _a pureblood_, felt so bad tangling with that little terror – what about _poor_ _Silver_?

Goodness! Silver wasn't a _pureblood_ vampire! Heck, while Haruka wasn't _quite_ sure what type of vampire Silver really was, if his sister and him looked so bad after a run in with that mini-demon, what did poor Silver look like _now_?

But Juri broke out into a large smile - not _truly_ understanding Haruka's _real_ concerns. "He fought to save me, Haruka! _He fought to save me_." Then as she clapped her hands, her face started to _glow_. "You should have seen him!" She cried. "It was like he was a perfect knight defending his lady!"

Juri bounced up. "Goog had thrown me down a few steps and Silver fought him in a way I've _never_ seen before!" She excitedly explained. "At first, I thought he would get hurt, but Silver was able to take him on like nobody's business!" She clasped her hands tightly together as she continued to explain. "But then Goog pulled out a _gun,_ and I thought it was all over. _**Over**_ - I tell you! Even _Silver_ was frozen solid for a full minute there, but then it was like he _level up_ to Superman Goku Level!" She admiringly whispered. "It was like a magic knight transformation!"

Haruka could only look at his sister. He shook his dark-haired head

_Wow._

For someone who was just attacked and kidnapped, Juri was _far_ too bouncy and happy.

_Girls. _

But Juri continued to excitedly explain her tale. "Silver's eyes got all shinny and pure, and he raced toward Goog like a wild cheetah!" She cheered. "Then he snatched the gun right out of Goog's evil hand, and then he said," And here Juri lowered her voice to match Silver's unusual deep intonations. "_You damn beast in human form! Take one more step towards her, and I'll rip you apart._"

Juri hotly waved herself.

"I DIED, Haruka!" Juri waved herself _faster_. "I just totally _died_ when he said that!" She whispered. "Silver is _so_ wonderfully prefect! He is the perfect man!" Juri beamed. "That's probably why I'm sure Papa is in love with him! Silver is just so perfect!" She continued to mindlessly chatter away.

Haruka's dizzying brain took a while to process what Juri was rapidly saying. After a while, he got in the basics of it – Goog attacked her, Silver saved her (Why couldn't girls just explain things in a simple manner –ugh!)- but it was her _last_ statement that short-circuited his teen brain.

**What. the. hell. did. she. just. **_**say?**_

Haruka looked at his sister with his mouth hung open.

_**What...the...fuck? **_

Did he just hear what he thought he just heard out of _her_ crazily cheerful lips?

**Father** was..._**in love**__..._with _Silver_?

Haruka speechlessly wondered.

_How..._

_How __**in the world**__..._

_How __**in the world**__ did __**Juri**__ come to that __**sick conclusion**__? _

Father wasn't in love with Silver!

THAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE!

_Who the fuck was she even referring too? _

**Father**..._love_?

Did father even _know_ how to _love_ **really**?

By darkness, father was nothing more than a cruel tyrant! All the stories were true! Father was an evil bastard! A cruel evil bastard who was enslaving poor Silver _against_ his will! Silver was nothing more than father's sex slave! A poor helpless Doll!

_**So how the fuck could that be seen as love? **_

However, upon noticing Haruka's scandalized expression, Juri's excitement abruptly died down. She quickly realized what she had _just_ said.

A dark silence descended on the two children.

Yet, trying to ignore the pink elephant in the room, Juri said, "They...they took him _too_, Haruka." She said. "I haven't seen him since then. But Mrs. Song did say he was _okay_ when I asked her what was going on." Juri continued. " We've been kidnapped by some of our parent's enemies, but I don't know _why_ though."

Haruka just continued stared at his twin.

Oh, sweet darkness, Haruka felt like he had _a lot_ of work cut out for him in their near future.

* * *

_**Concurrently, On the Bridge of An Escaping Yacht... **_

Risk.

Sosono understood that she games she loved to play involved the unknowable thing called _risk_. Risk was such a fickle thing. It would hound a person with its needs for attention, but never gave one any certainty that all would be okay in the end.

Sosono sighed. She would have to weigh all the benefits of these risks she was taking. Her previous life lessons would be the key in this regard. Those hard-learned lessons needed to help her because if she _didn't_ use it - she would be doomed to failure.

Nevertheless, _so far so good. _

Sosono could hardly hold back a smile.

The plan that Shigeru suggested to her had _marvelously_ worked. Sosono couldn't have been more _pleased_ if she had tried. By darkness, that man had been more _useful_ to her in ten minutes then her lot were to her in years.

Sosono smirked at the irony. What she wouldn't give to have _ten_ of him under her command! Why if she did she felt she would be able to _rule_ the entire world! It had been a _long time_ since she had met a person who had made her this happy!

Before this was over, she _needed_ to have him on her side! He would be the _first_ person to be _her_ _people_, rather than her _lot_.

_Oh, the possibilities!_ Sosono thought happily to herself.

One of the best-kept secret of the ages, was the answer to the age-old question: Where did _rulers_ come from? While some rulers are born and others are made, at the end of the day - who created rulers?

The answer will surprise you...

_People created the rulers. _

Yes, **people**.

Even when she was a child, Sosono inherently understood this truth. A man (or woman) is not an island and as such cannot stand alone. In order for great dreams and enterprises to be accomplish, one must have people, _the people_, on their side in order to achieve their grand endeavors.

Thus, in order to succeed in life, one must gather a thousand people in order to build one grand dream.

In this regard, the hero, ruler, or villain of a tale were simply a reflection of the state of the people who chose them. Rulers were pure and just mirrors of their people's inner state. With the force of their unique personalities, rulers are the glue that binds the dreams of the person together. However, without the people - nothing could be accomplished because it was the people who _create_ the heroes, _remembered_ the rulers, and _cursed_ the villains who paint the walls of history.

People were so very, _very_ important.

But at _that_ thought, Sosono sighed. _**She**_ really had _**no people**_. _No people at all._

When she had was a 'lot'.

Depressed, Sosono's mind slid and assessed her 'lot'.

Hye Jin Song would be of no more use to her anymore. The woman would probably go insane because of her love-bond break. Sosono had _hoped_ that the love-bond between Hye Jin and Joon Ho had been a _consort-level bond,_ and thus she wouldn't have risked her insanity if the man ended up dead, but alas, the nature of a couple's love-bond is such a _private_ thing. It was obvious that those two had stupidly had a true-love bond.

Honestly, Sosono just didn't understand why such seemingly intelligent vampires would risk having such a thing. Despite the unusual benefits of such a _binding_ bond, Sosono would never risk having one herself.

Self-preservation, after all, was her _highest_ creed now.

Nevertheless, the woman was a big danger. If unleashed, she would murder without restrictions in her vengeful grief. And she didn't have the time of day to deal with that. In truth, Sosono thought it would probably be better to push her off the ship and let her sink deep within the sea. That would quickly solve the problem, but then there was _Im Dae Han_ to consider. The man had a mild crush on the woman since he'd been a _tot_. So to do that would put the _best_ person she had working for her _against_ her.

Sosono rolled her eyes. _Purebloods and their unusual obsessions._

Goodness! The woman far older than Im Dae - so what made him think she would even consider him? What was wrong with that man? Hye Jin wasn't what they called a 'cougar' was she?

_Not Hye Jin._ Her mind brazenly said. _That would be __**you**__, dear_.

_What?_ Sosono thought to herself. _I am no such thing!_

Her brain snorted. So _says the cougar who was just picturing riding a __**particular**__ silver-haired cub like a roller coaster. _

Sosono gagged on her own impure thoughts.

_SHUT. UP. BRAIN!_ Sosono massaged her forehead. _JUST. SHUT. UP._

_Well!_ Her mind huffed. _It's the truth!_

Oh, Sosono was beginning to think she needed to _sleep_. Clearly, her (freaky) mind was losing it for lack of it.

Um, what was she thinking about again?

Ah, yes.

Sosono had no idea what to do with Hye Jin. So, for now, she would just leave her be. Im Dae was obviously going to be looking after her, and that was all well and good for the moment. He and his brother did their part well in their final getaway from the port, so she wouldn't need him much for anything yet.

Sosono's eyebrow twitched as she thought of the _younger_ Han brother, though. Honestly, that peacock was so _annoying_! If he wasn't so useful with his bombs and explosive abilities, Sosono imagined that she would have _loved_ picking off his feathers one by one.

Yes, she _did_ notice that the man was throwing her Shigeru such awful looks during the previous plan meeting. Goodness, that boy. He needed to get a life. Preferable his life. His jealousy was so pathetic that Sosono felt like she was dealing with a teenage human plastic princess instead of a _man_. By night, Shigeru had handled him _wonderfully_ by **ignoring** the fool, but she would have to keep an eye on him. After all, jealous lovers weren't the most logical.

Nevertheless, Wan Hoo Kim, his mistress, was finally doing something useful! She was busy maintaining a visual illusion around their ship. It was one of the few things that blasted lazy woman was _good_ for. She was able to create a field around their escape yacht that made it seem like nothing was there. Probably only the most seasoned of sea captains would be able to tell that something was amissed as they traveled. And while Sosono didn't shy away from battle, sometimes it was wiser not to engage in one at all. (And wise was a word Sosono liked to ascribe to herself.)

Even so, her youngest son, Min Chan Kim, was busy steering their escape yacht out of Tokyo Bay. Soon, they reach the open sea, and Sosono would have to decide their next new direction.

Shigeru was right. Getting out was only her first step. By night, she was far from done!

Thus, North or South – where should they go? What path should they choose?

Well, if she were to choose to go _south_, it would be faster. The water currents would aid them greatly, and her homeland was a short distance away from the Kyushu southern tip of Japan. They would be able to go through the Kammon Strait and get to their final stop in no time flat. But this path – though the fastest – was also the most dangerous.

_Utterly dangerous._

If she were King Kuran, she would have _every_ southern and western route blocked and monitored. Using the Songs as sacrifices for time was all well and good, but that meant that she would risk giving up the national identity of the 'traitors'. She had thought that by doing that she would be getting much further along that she was but...oh well. No use crying over spilled milk. Still, knowing the bloody warring history of Vampire Korea and Vampire Japan – this act will _definitely_ drive an even greater wedge between their not-exactly-friendly nations.

Sosono _knew_ her plans would exacerbate that intense situation, but despite the risks, the calls of _rewards_ were greater.

After all, if she had the tyrant's children – he wouldn't be much of a _tyrant_ anymore.

It was a win-win situation for her if she succeeded in this. She would have all the power then.

If King Kuran agreed to her terms, she would get her kingdom freed and back. However, if King Kuran refused, she would be able to plot an even _greater_ rebellion and thus take the _entire_ Far Eastern Realm by force. After all, would his people want to be ruled by a tyrant who had no love for his own flesh and blood? Of course not! Especially with his unspoken brand of dark terror already engulfing the realm since the beginning of his reign. While King Kuran was a reflection of his people's depraved state – he was in danger of going too far sometimes. The people always have their limits and not even a _king_ will win when his own people fully turn against him.

And while his majestic accomplishments and goals kept his people pleased with him (most of the time), it was his wife – Queen Yuki Kuran – that truly kept them _loyal_. Without her, the people would have been overwhelmed with terror of him. Thus, having the Queen (and to another extent, his children) by his side, made the Kuran King more..._palpable_...to his people. It made him more..._likeable_...to them.

After all, having such a good wife and good children meant that there was goodness _still_ inside of him – _right_?

Well, Sosono _didn't_ say that people were _smart_.

Nevertheless, while going South was dangerous, going _North_ had its problems as well. They would be fighting against the main current, and that would _add_ time they didn't need. Plus the Tsugaru Strait was notorious for being deadly and untrustworthy, and it was so _cold_ up there that...

Sosono massaged her head. _Ah, risks. Everything was a risk._ How she both loved and hated it.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, In Another Room on the Escaping Rebel Yacht...**_

Silver Night heavily sighed.

Wearing all this masks was extremely _tiring_.

He heavily sighed again. Goodness, between his kidnapping, his other selves' teasing cruelty, Sosono's games of wits, and the other rebels' distrust of him...

Honestly, Silver was nearly his wit's end.

But onward he must go.

Silver sighed a _third_ time.

Still, despite his weariness, Silver felt quite glad.

No. Not just glad.

He felt more..._powerful_ here than at any other point in his tiring life. And some reason, that made him extremely...glad.

Even though he had become accustomed to using his 'yin' masks with the majority of his male masters, it was the rarely used 'yang' personalities that made him feel _alive_ and _in control_ and..._complete_.

This was quite strange. _Yes, indeed._

Silver had a feeling that his true self was more of a 'yang' type of man. Something that was _uncontrollable_, but at the same time, always completely in control. Silver couldn't prove this feeling. And with all the evidence to the contrary, one would be _foolish_ to think this way. After all, his true self was trapped (or was it hiding?) within his own soul. Not exactly yang-type behavior. However, while he continued to use this yang personality mask of his, Silver felt more...**normal** and..._strangely_...**complete**.

Though he _couldn't_ prove it, he almost felt like his true self was edging closer and _closer_ to his reality. In some sense, Silver was getting the feeling that his _waxed self_ was the real reason why his true self wasn't totally aware of what truly going on within their outer world. Just like how the waxed self prevented him for knowing what was going on in his true self's inner world.

Silver's mind whirled as he pondered this new understanding.

Yes. _Yes_. Didn't it seem like the waxed self was working _against_ him instead of _for_ him?

Something inside Silver violently **shuddered**, but the strange feeling immediately went away.

Silver's gray-plum eyes flashed. He felt like he was close to _realizing_ something, _but_...but that _something_ had been taken away.

Silver growled.

So, the waxed self _strikes again._

_I will discover the secret one day._ Silver darkly said to himself. _I will discover this secret, waxed self. This I promise you. _

_**Ha! Not if I destroy you first, shadow one.**_ The waxed self snarled back. _**Not if I destroy you first.**_

But with a daring he didn't even know he had, Silver thought, _Whoever told you that you even could?_ He challenged.

And the waxed self did not reply.

A surge of glee came upon Silver at that.

By darkness, for the first time, _in a long time_, Silver felt _in complete control_ _of himself_ - as strange as it sounded in this situation. Dare he think it – he almost felt..._real_. Like he was able to act as if he had _full_ autonomy over himself or that if he made a decision he would be able to _stick_ to it.

By Night! It felt so **nice** to feel and be this way. Not one of the rebels suspected that he was truly a Doll. _Not one._ And it felt..._**great**_.

Great! _Great!_ _**Great!**_

_Truly_, it felt **extreme good** at being regarded as a **person** rather than as a _dream_.

_However_, at least _one_ person on this ship knew the full truth of the matter, and Silver would have to see him – _them_ – soon.

His master's children – Haruka and Juri.

Silver sighed a fourth time. He put all thoughts of his two selves away and refocused on his _next_ pressing problem. After all, he had _no_ idea what to expect from them, but, nevertheless, he had to go forward.

After all, for his future plots and schemes to _succeed_ he required their influences.

* * *

_**Three Hours Later...**_

The two royal children tensed up as the door to their private yacht room unexpectedly opened. Haruka and Juri didn't know what or who to expect and that feeling _**frightened**_ them.

But the second they realized who it was – both young teens relaxed.

_It was Silver. _

For a brief moment, Haruka stared. The man looked just like he remembered him. He still had that long silver hair, he still had those deep gray-purple eyes, he still had that handsome face, and he still had the air of otherworldliness about.

_But..._

But there was something _very_ _**different**_ about him now.

Haruka didn't know what that different thing was though. All he knew was that he was _**unnerved**_ by it.

Even with his beautiful hair, striking appearance, and air of grandness, Haruka felt a certain sense of..._coldness_ in Silver that he had never felt before.

Yes, _coldness_.

Silver wasn't as _warm_ or as _caring_ in his matter as he was _before_.

And for some reason, this _cold_ air towards them remained Haruka immensely of his..._**father.**_

_What in the world happened to him?_ Haruka thought to himself. Was what all those articles said true? Or was this the result of being connected to his father? _Haruka didn't know_. He just didn't know. And a part of him felt...**sad**. Extremely sad.

Why?

Because Haruka didn't want his _warm_ Silver to end up..._to_ _end up like_...his mother.

People like to think that Haruka didn't notice things, but he _did_ you know. And he wasn't stupid (Well, at least not Juri-level stupid! Ha!) But he _did_ see things that others didn't see, sometimes. And one of those things were that whenever his mother interacted with his father...the slowly built warm inside her would be rapidly sucked out. Like father was some type of dark parasite that greedily sucked away mother's love until none was ever left. Haruka would always be surprised at the change and, really, he _**greatly disliked**_ his father because of it.

Nevertheless, the female side of the twin pair felt _unbelievably_ anxious.

The young princess was finally face to face with the person she just discovered that her Papa had newly fallen in love with, and because of that - Juri's emotions was spiraling out of control!

Papa was in love with Silver, wasn't he?

That's why he had those _tender_ bite marks on his neck before!

Papa only gave them to mama, and papa always claimed to love mama dearly so -

Juri looked as Silver with shining eyes...and quickly turned her face away. Hundreds of conflicting feelings were racing through her, and she just didn't know what to do or say to him. She just _didn't know_. If what she was thinking was true, her beloved family, as she knew it, was going to be destroyed. _**Destroyed**_ she said! Mama would leave Papa! She would! _She would!_ And, _and_, **and** –

Juri felt like _crying_. She felt like crying ten thousand tears.

But as the children were lost in their own thoughts, Silver quietly took the time to assess the physical state of master's children.

Well, they were better than he originally thought - that's for sure.

He left out a sigh of relief. _Good_. He may not need to give them his blood then.

Nevertheless, both children were in varying stages of healing with the young prince being the worst off between the two. Silver's detected that the two were nowhere near their _normal_ level of health because he felt a _dimness_ to their being he had never felt before - most especially in the young princess.

But that was expected. Haruka looked the worst for wear _physically_, but mentally he was...okay. However, while Juri looked far more robust than her brother, her face had on an expression that looked like she was going to break down and cry at the sight of him.

And the fact that she wasn't looking at him – _hurt_.

It hurt so much in ways Silver couldn't really describe.

_Wow. _

Of all the people in he had _ever_ met in his life, Juri was the _first_ person he didn't ever want to hurt. The same could be said about Haruka, in a way, but there was just something _more_ to it with Juri.

She was the _only_ person in this world his true self ordered him to protect.

_The only one. _

And what made it even more striking was the fact that his true self hadn't even asked that of _himself_. Silver had never heard his true self remark or even care about _his_ terrible fate. At times, it was almost as if his true self didn't care if they lived or died. And despite all the pains, tortures, and fears Silver had experience in his life, he received _no help_ from his true self.

No help - at all.

But with Juri? Everything was _different_. The rules most certainly changed when _she_ was involved. And when _she_ was in pain, fearful, and hurt – _that_ was when his true self decided to manifest himself in Silver's reality. In order to protect her from _her_ fears, his true self came to the rescue.

Something he _**NEVER**_ did for _**him**_.

Honestly, in a weird way, Silver could almost describe himself as being a little..._jealous_ of the young girl - as ridiculous as that sounded. This odd jealousy of his was both terribly pathetic and tragically depressing to him.

_Oh, brother._ Silver massaged the side of the head. People – he'll never truly get them.

Still, he needed to get on with this conversation. "How have you two been?" He lightly asked.

Silence.

Goodness. It appears like they didn't even hear him. Oh boy, what was he -

And without _any_ sort of preparation, Juri, looking down at her feet, bluntly asked. "Since when have you been in love with my papa, Silver?" Her childlike voice directly questioned him.

**What.**

On.

**Earth.**

Did.

_She._

Just.

**Say?**

Silver felt like he had just been hit by lightening!

Of _all_ the questions to ask...she would ask the _one_ question Silver did not have an answer.

"_Since when have you been in love with my papa, Silver?"_

Utterly dazed, Silver said, "I -" But then he stopped, his mind frozen. "I don't -"

Juri stopped looking down at her feet and looked him square in the eyes. Her eyes shining with unfilled tears.

Silver mentally flinched. Her rapt attention didn't help him at all. Could he really say '_I don't love him_.' to her and think _nothing_ of it?

"I don't understand what you mean, princess." Silver said instead. "I don't understand what you mean by...love." And that was true in a dark way. Silver _couldn't_ love. He had never loved. And he didn't even know what that even _felt_ like, so, honestly, he didn't truly know.

All he felt towards Master Kaname was an _unnatural_ _regard_ – he could feel **nothing** else.

However, little Juri titled her head in confusion at his reply. "Papa...loves you, right?" She slowly asked. "I mean he..._he_..." And then she blushed. "I saw the..._marks_...on your neck...and..._papa_ only gives _those_ _things_ to..._mama_..." She tried to explain. "So..._I know_ that..." But then she trailed off.

Now, it was Silver's turn to brightly blush.

Oh dear.

Wow.

Talk about the Butterfly Effect.

He could only _stare_ at her. My goodness. Silver suddenly felt _extremely_ stupid.

Was _that_ what this was all about?

_Just think_ - if he had just used some _common_ _sense_ and **worn** a damn _**turtleneck**_ shirt – this entire situation could have been avoided! By darkness, Silver felt like he could either crazily laugh or pitifully cry.

Sighing for the thousandth time, Silver clinically evaluated. "What you mean to _really_ say is that you found out that your father engaged in sexual intercourse with me last night...and that thought disturbs you."

Juri blinked like a owl. Haruka stared at him like a bug.

_Wow._ They thought in unison. _What a blunt way to put it._

Silver didn't think it would be appropriate to smile – and if he did smile, he knew it would come across as sadly _mocking_ – so instead, he decided to shake his head.

"If you think for one moment that your father is in love with me, my dear princess," Silver calmly began. "I should inform you that is _not_ the case."

Juri blinked again. _What?_ Not the case? She wasn't an idiot! "But Papa slept with you! And he left marks all over you! And he keeps you so close and –" She reasoned.

"**Juri**." Silver gently said. "_Juri_." He repeated again. "I will truthfully tell you that your father _did_ sleep with me last night." _And most nights before that_ - he almost added, but his rational sense kicked in to stop him.

Silver smiled at her with...sad understanding. "I'm sorry if such knowledge hurts you, but don't think for a second it was because your father loves me."

Masters couldn't love Dolls, after all – especially not in the ways it truly mattered in the end.

"In fact, it is _impossible_ for your father to love me." Silver added. "Totally impossible."

Juri frowned darkly at him. Honestly, she was _not_ an idiot! Why did people always think she was?

"Of course, papa loves you!" Juri defended as she raised her voice. "Papa just doesn't sleep with anybody!" Papa was not like Uncle Playboy Hanabusa, after all! When papa did that kind of stuff – it mattered!

"So, _of course_, it's so obvious that he must love you!" Juri gauged. "Don't try to tell me anything different! What other reasons could there be?"

Juri knew her father! She just _knew_ him, and he wasn't that type of man!

Silver stared _again_.

_My_...what pure innocence. What pure, good, and noble _innocence_ she had.

To think that because her father was _sleeping_ with him meant that he was _in love_ with him...

If love was something that came so _easily_...the world would not be such a dark place.

Silver slowly massaged his head. Okay, then. _Okay, then._ He now knew what was _real_ problem was here.

He would nip this foolishness right in the bud. _Now._

Silver shook his head at her. "Your father didn't sleep with me because he is 'in love' with me, dear princess." He began. "He slept with me because he wanted some..._stress relief_."

Juri was rendered silent and now _Haruka_ was looking at him like he couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Stress...relief?" Juri echoed. "_Stress relief_?" She repeated again.

People don't do _those things_ just for stress relief! Don't people read books or garden for things like that!

"That's not a nice thing to say about Papa, Silver!" Juri safeguarded.

Silver shook his head again. By darkness, he was probably _destroying_ her girly illusions about love and what not, but at the moment, it was _far_ better for him to do this than have her think he and her father was in some type of _loving mutual relationship_.

In fact, Silver was starting to expect that Juri _really_ didn't know the **true** **nature** of their relationship, and with _that_ thought he shot a dark look at the prince.

Haruka simply stared back at him.

Silver twitched. In a way, this was that punk's fault. Didn't _he_ first discover that Silver was his father's Doll? If the boy had just _properly explained_ their true relationship, Silver wouldn't have to destroy Juri's idealistic vision of love so viciously now.

..._Then again_...learning that your father had a male sex slave warming his bed every night...wasn't such a great option...either.

_Goodness._ For some reason, Silver suddenly felt like a _dirty old man_. Don't they jail adults for corrupting the youth?

"Juri." Silver began again. "Your father is _still_ _**deeply**_ in love with your mother." He said. And oh, how that thought, for some odd reason, made him..._sad_. "However, with this divorce and with whatever happened during the First Court Session – your father was in _intense_ emotional pain." He matter-of-factly explained. "That pain drove him to desire..._a sense of comfort_." Silver gamely put it. "It was _not_ because he feels I am _special_, but simply because I was _there_." He said. "Anyone else would have been the same."

The two children looked at him like they never saw him before!

But at their mirrored speechless looks at him, Silver's gray-plum eyes... _flashed_... as he thought of a way to..._lighten_ the mood.

So, with his soft red lips twisting with inner adult amusement, Silver said, "But better _me_ than say..._Butler Rio_, eh?" He grinned.

It took a _very_ looooooong moment for what Silver had said to sink into their brains.

And when it _did_ - Juri truly morphed into an owl, and Haruka started to chock on his own tongue.

"_**Butler...Rio**_?" Juri asked - utterly _flabbergasted_. "Papa has much higher standards than that!"

"_Oh_?" Silver was _deeply_ amused. "What?" He pushed. "You think Butler Rio is a _poor_ choice or something?" His lips teasingly twitched. "I can assure you that-"

"_Oh my precious darkness!"_ _**Haruka**_, of all people, anxiously shot out. He then decided to place his small fingers in his ears so that he could not hear what he _thought_ he was hearing. "I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it." He chanted. "La la la la. I can't hear you." He said. "La la la - _Old people don't have sex!_" He shouted out. "La la la!"

Silver's lips twisted into a _very_ naughty smirk.

_Oh_...this was quite fun.

Pretending to be _totally_ serious, Silver 'defended' what he was saying. " Come, come now." It was _so_ hard to keep a straight face. "I can assure you that older men _aren't_ like what they use to be." Silver's smooth voice grated on. "And with things like _Viagra_ – why would anyone want to reject them?"

"_Viagra_?" Juri looked like she was on the verge of fainting. "Did he just say _Viagra_?"

But Silver trollishly continued on. "And, after all, doesn't such a thing solve the _main_ problem? And with _all_ their vast life experiences...well, you know what they say." And at this point, Silver decided to _bluntly_ smirk.

He really was a bad, _bad_ guy.

Smilingly sweetly, Silver said. "_Practice makes perfect_."

Silence.

**Juri. could. not. say. a. word. **She felt like she had just been hit by _lightening_ and..._**died**_.

While Haruka _**died**_...and wondered if he'd gone straight to hell.

The thought...the very image...in his poor young mind...

IT BURRRNNNNN!

Damn it all to hell! He cursed his _vision-inclined _mind_!_

Why? WHY? His evil male brain had just tried to _picture_ – **OH, KAMI WHY?**

_**WHY? **_

"I hate you, Silver! I hate you!" Haruka cried. "Someone kill me. Please, _please_ kill me now." Haruka felt like his mind needed a good washing. He'll _never_ forget these _**terrible**_ imagined images!

Silver quietly chuckled to himself.

Ah, youth.

But then he decided to get _**serious**_.

Placing his hand on top of the frozen Juri's hair, his troll smirk morphed into a solemn expression.

"You have _nothing_ to fear losing because of me, young one." Siler gently said - inherently knowing what the _real_ issue was.

She thought she would lose her family over him, didn't she?

Something inside him...twisted, but Silver decided to give Juri a calming smile. "Your father and mother will not break up because of me." He somehow...wished? Lied?

_I...don't...understand...what I want._ He thought to himself._ I don't understand..what is happening...in me._

Nevertheless, _he_ wasn't who was important right now. Silver gently patted Juri's head. "You will have your family back soon. And everything will go back to the way it was before." He tenderly promised.

Unexpectedly, Juri felt cheered and comforted by his words.

Silver always knew the correct thing to say.

And the unspoken fears that hounded her were suddenly forgot.

**To Be Continued **

* * *

**A/N:** What? XD I thought we could use some _humor_ after all this scary craziness! And we'll need some before the next batch of dark insanity starts! ;_;

But my goodness! My...fingers...really hurt! (Cries) This was a very long chapter! Extremely long! My poor, _poor_ fingers. -_-" In truth, I was very tempted to cut this chapter up into two (like I would have usually done), but I _did_ promise you guys that 'it' would start the next chapter, so I couldn't. (Weeps silently for broken nails)

Anyways...(Summons inner mob boss) You are all quite lucky my precious..._friends_! Because in the next chapter, I will finally start to reveal one of the _great_ mysteries of this story!(Cue evil laughter) But you _know_ what you _have_ to do in order to get it! (Holds next chapter hostage) Better make me forget about my aching fingers! Review... or else! (Eviler laugh)

(Dodges hundreds of flaming tomatoes) Yeah! That's not fair! Don't gang up on me! X3

But in all seriousness, I'm issuing my warnings now before we begin this (and before I'm flamed for not properly _warning_ you guys).

There will be blood. There will be pain. And there will be _strong_ scenes of _explicit_ sexual, mental, and physical violence in these last two legs of this arc. It isn't gratuitous, but I _did_ rate this story a 'M' for a reason. I'm not too sure of all the various age groups reading this story, but if your mother walks in and dies of a heart attack because she sees what you are reading – don't blame me! :-/ You've all been forward! :(

But thanks for reading and please leave a review with your thoughts! But short or long reviews – English or not ;D – I do so love them all! XD


	90. Chapter 89 Drop

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**Warning**: Strong sexual content in this chapter! Reader Beware!

* * *

**Chapter Eighty–Nine: Drop **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Two months.

It has been _two months_ since Zero Kiryu was incarcerated in this excruciating hell.

Breathe In...

Breathe Out...

Breathe..._breathe_...

It was extremely hard to _breath_.

Zero had never felt so utterly useless. Like he was nothing more than an incompetent weakling and inept fool.

Breathing was something that should be _simple_ to do. _So simple._

But...

_But_...it..._breathing_...was just... so...**hard**..._now_.

Every intake of breath was like a subtle _torture_ to Zero in its own unique way.

There was _something_ in the air – _something_ – that prevented him from accessing either his hunter or vampire powers. He didn't know how and he didn't know why – but all he knew was that _whatever_ was in the air...**worked**. Whatever that _something_ was...it made him...so _powerless_.

Powerless. **Helpless**. _Vulnerable_.

By Heaven's Blade, that was the _one_ thing – _the one damn __**little**__ thing_ - Zero had fought so hard, struggle so much, and loss too much _for_. He had hoped that he would _never_ be in this position..._again_. To **never be** – _as weak_ – as he currently _was_...

If it wasn't so sad, Zero would laugh. He would laugh, _laugh, **laugh**. _Because _everything_ he had ever done – in order to become a noble protector, to be a strong man, and to even be a good person - had been for **nothing**.

Nothing. _Nothing_. **Nothing**.

Had he been able to fight - _to struggle_ – Zero knew he would have been able to leave this hellish place a _long_ time ago. _He knew that._

But...he couldn't fight.

Nor could he struggle.

And that made him..._**made him**_...feel..._**totally useless.**_

Breathe In...

Breathe Out...

_Breathe In... _

_Breathe Out... _

_Don't focus on what is happening now, man._ The ex-human encouraged himself. _If you don't focus on __**it**__, then it...__**isn't**__...really...__**happening**__. _

But...how could he not? _How?_

Despite his _hardest of efforts_, Zero couldn't access any of his bitterly attained strength. At this moment – the _exact_ _time_ when all of that tough preparation would be needed - Zero was as helpless as any other normal human. The majority of his powers, abilities, and spells that had taken so long to for him to master were of no use to him in the _darkest_ situation of his young life.

The knowledge was _maddening_ in its own way...so how could he just...not..._focus_...on that?

Nevertheless, staring up at the musty black cave ceiling above him, the ex-human vampire hunter could only... feel..._**pain**_.

Zero took in another _deep_ breath – and he tried to _center_ himself.

_It... wasn't...working.  
_

There was nothing, absolutely nothing, but his unchanging, unending, and unrelenting _**agony.**_

_Someone...please...**help**...me..._

First of all, Zero was completely _exposed_. Nude. Nothing covered him. No clothing, no shoes, and not even socks.

Since coming here - Zero had been _naked_ as the day he was born.

"_They will strip you of your clothing." _The remembered voice of Toga echoed in Zero's mind._ "They do this to increase your sense of helpless. To make you feel vulnerable and powerless. Clothing gives us humans a sense of decency and comfort. We protect and hide our bodies in order to keep our souls covered. That is why the bathroom and the bedroom are such private places – they are typically the only places one generally disrobes. It's also another reason why bathroom and bedroom murder scenes are so scary." _

Zero's heart frenziedly cried out. _**Toga Yagari**_. His teacher. His father.

_Toga-__ Sensei...why_? He thought in his muddy mental daze. _Toga-__ Otōsan_, _why... haven't...you...__**saved**__...me...yet...**why**...when...you...__**promised**__._

_Where are you? Help me, please. _

However, in a cruel sort of way, his desperate inner pleads was answered with _outer_ pain.

Zero's heart _stopped,_ and his lungs _screamed_ as a new pain detonated within him. He felt as if his private insides were being _ripped apart_. It was like a thorny tube was being inserted inside him, and he felt his inner muscular flesh hemorrhaging. He could even feel some of that warm flesh blood flow out of him, down his trapped and trembling pale legs, and onto the cold cave floor below.

_I...am...**scared**...that...I...will...not be able...to **resist**...much longer._ Zero torpidly thought to himself. _It's getting...**hard**...to constantly **fight**...this **losing** battle..._

_Someone – anyone – help me._

But his arms were still bound. Still trapped against a stark wooden platform. His well-toned muscles were fatigued beyond measure. They wept at the _slightest_ manipulation. His fleshy bruises were deep enough to burn a crimson shade but not enough to bleed. Zero had a feeling that such a thing was _intentional_. After all, _this_ tormentor wasn't in the habit of creating 'external' wounds.

Nope, his _current_ tormentor specialized in creating Zero's _internal_ ones.

_**PAIN.**_

Zero's moonlight throat was laboriously sore - but not from screaming. He refused to scream for this man. _He refused. This_ tormentor will not have the privilege of that, and as this was one of the few things left to him that he _could_ control - Zero would not give it up. **_He would not._**

Better for him to be dead then for him to give up now.

But of all the things Zero _**could**_ _**not**_ _**control**_ about his present fate, he decided that he _**would control**_ his own _voice_. There had been no more screams of people he didn't know since the first day following his capture. The only screams that had decorated these icy cave walls had been his own. However, the use of his voice was one of the few things he had that could show his two different tormentors that he was..._still not broken, _and was_ never going to be broken._

Yet they _still tried_ to force him to break Zero's new silent resolve. **Again.** He knew that his tormentors perfectly understood his rebellious intent.

And he smiled down as Zero as the ex-human struggled to keep it.

"_**What do you hate the most, my dear?"**_ Masashi Sukakasei, the keeper of all of Zero's untainted hate, purred softly in his ear.

But he faultlessly maintained his total silence.

Zero **knew** what Masashi was _truly_ trying to do.

At once, Zero strengthened his mental barriers, and at that, Masashi knowingly frowned at him.

_**Ha**__. You may be able to come into my body._ Zero silently snarled. _But you will not get **into** my mind, beast. _

His tormentor read the silent message loud and clear – and his face darken considerably because of it. And thus he gave him...more pain.

Distance. _Distance_. **Distance**.

A mind might be a terrible thing to waste, but equally as terrible was a mind that could be broken _into_. This was one of the _few_ things that the hunter could be _**cocky**_ about in this direr situation. At least – _at the very least_ - Zero had never allowed this evil beast into his _mind_ again. _Never_. He knew what was at stake. His body was a lost cause now. Zero wouldn't be able to defend it even if he tried. But if Zero failed to protect _his own mind_, then all his other goals would surely be _lost_.

That, my friends, couldn't happen.

And thus, Zero defended his mind like a sleepless watchmen.

As a vampire hunter, Zero knew that vampires, in general, could get inside the minds of others (Which was typically the minds of humans because, excluding purebloods, most vampires couldn't influence their kindred in such an obvious way). Still, that universal power gave them the ability to place 'suggestions' in their victim's mind and actually have that person believe that he or she thought of the idea _themselves_. But that was the usual extent of the average vampire's mental manipulation.

However, other mental abilities, such as totally erasing or lightly blocking memories, weren't common throughout the vampire world, and, even _less_ common than those mental abilities, were the abilities to _bring back_ or remove a barrier of blocked memories.

His true-love mate, Yuki Kur –

_NO._ Zero snarled to himself. _I refuse to even think of __**that**__ wretched last name._

But _too soon_, Zero's mind remembered the seamless pain he was currently experienced. At the brief remembrance, Zero felt his wailing heart violently shudder. Naturally, he wanted to groan out, but he continued to keep his silence.

_Distance your mind, Zero._ He thought to himself. _Think of other things._

This ability to 'disconnect' from his current reality was probably what kept him sane. So, Zero distance his mind from where he _was_ and what was currently being _**done**_ to him.

Yes. Distance. _Disconnect_. **Disengage**. _**Disassociate**_.

Because if Zero truly _did_ stop and think about the deadening anguish the _lower_ half portion his trembling body was being subjected to – he wouldn't be able to keep his silent rebellion.

The... **pain**... was...truly..._**horrendous**_.

_Stop thinking about it._ Zero blindly thought to himself. _Pretend like it isn't even happening. _He encouraged. _In fact, nothing is happening, Zero. Nothing at all. _

But his lower body's vile _anguish_ started to creep up...his twisted spine...and heaving chest...and sore throat -

Zero took in a tedious inhaling breath. _I will survive this. This will not break me. And I will escape this one day._ He told himself. _Nothing. Important. Is. Happening. To. Me. _He mentally chanted through the pain. _Nothing. Important. Is. Happening. To. Me._

But above him, he could see Masashi's playful smirk. "I _still_ want to hear you sing, my love." His voice smoothly crooned. "Why won't you sing for me, my silver night's dream?"

Distance. _Distance_. **Distance**.

**Nothing is Happening, Zero. Not. One. Thing. **

Silence.

_So_, what had he been thinking about? What was the subject again? Ah, yes.

His wife's vampire mental abilities.

Zero abstractedly reflected.

Though she did have the basic powers of blocking memories, _Yuki_ _Kiryu's_ (because she was Zero's wife _now_ – even if such a thing was only officially known in his and her hearts. While they didn't get _married_ that day, they were **still connected** in the ways that _**matter**_. Yes, indeed. _They surely are_.) true power laid more in _healing_ minds than anything else. She was the only person he knew that could bring _back_ erased memories, remove any mental blocks, and cure any person's hallucinations and illnesses.

Zero was quite proud of her. He was a happy husband who was very proud of his wife's talents.

But then Zero internally frowned as he remembered something.

Before..._this_...she did something that had greatly _**annoyed him**_. Almost two years ago, Yuki attempted to erase his memories of her on some fool's mission to 'save him from herself'. Honestly, she was still that same uncanny and weird girl he first met.

"_Save Zero from Yuki'_ – ha! It would be _funny_ if she hadn't truly believed in such a odd thing. But because she _had_, Zero had gone through three months of not knowing what was vitally missing in his life.

The time was a type of dull torture. A living type of torture. For he hadn't known what his proper place was in the world once the memory of her was gone.

Zero never wanted that to ever happen again. He would sooner experience a thousand different hells, then lose his life's purpose again.

Fortunately, after a few... _auspicious_ events..._happened_, it resulted in Zero getting his memories – _and thus his life's purpose_ - back.

Really, as a young married couple, they would certainly need to have a **talk** about _that_. A spouse can't just decide everything by themselves, you know. They needed to consult the _other_ before making such **crazy** decisions.

Without warning, Zero felt an odd tingle near his mind again, and he violently slammed up his mental barriers. His memories of that event – and hundreds upon hundreds of other important ones – was what he was trying to prevent the man he hated the most from learning about.

So, eyes slightly dilated, the ex-human hunter venomous stared at his smirking mental intruder. The message in his glaze was clear: _**You will not come in here, beast.**_

This beast in human form could have his _body_, if he so desperately wanted it. But even if Zero had to damn his pride, he _will_ keep his mind to himself.

**Never again. **

But the older nobleman just... _merrily_ _smiled_...down at him.

_**Oh**_, how Zero..._**HATED**_ _**HIM**_.

Masashi Sukakasi - the man who taught Zero was _real_ _hate_ _**tasted**__ like._

Nevertheless, Zero's hatred was a _smoldering_ thing. It stormed inside his heart and rushed violently through his dilated veins. Zero wanted to _kill_ _him_. He wanted to rip the man apart, just like he was doing to him. And if he ever got the chance, at that very moment – no, that exact second – Zero _will_ **take** it.

_I will destroy him._ Zero violently promised to himself. _I'll destroy Masashi._

Back in the old days (you know, the days where hunters/people actually took the threat vampires were to humankind _seriously_ - unlike the woefully ignorant Cross), this criminal noble vampire was the type of vampire that you heard the _worst_ of stories about.

As the _Underground Ruler of the Vampire Underworld_, Masashi answered to no one but himself. Not to the Far Eastern Council. Not to the Hunter's Association. Not even to higher-level Purebloods. Masashi was a type of dark vampire king in his own right. He knew all the secrets and the weaknesses of his friends and foes alike, thus there was nothing that he couldn't - _or wouldn't_ – do to achieve _his_ ends.

And the entire vampire world knew it.

That was why it _feared_ him.

Nevertheless, he was attractive for a middle-aged noble vampire. _(But aren't all vampires like that?) _

Short smooth gray hair, strong silver-gold eyes, and peach-like winter skin were his coloring. He was built like a well-defined and muscular American football linebacker, and he was quite tall - taller than even the red-haired noble Kain.

If Zero never had the misfortune to end up in this situation, he would have thought of the man as charming. (_Dashingly charming_.) And worldly. (_Wondrously worldly._**)** There was a sort of..._intensity..._that he had that Zero had only saw in _one_ other person in this sad world. In addition, there was a quantity of greatness - of a concentrated type of pure power- in everything he said and did...just like the _person _Masashi immensely reminded Zero of.

Sill, Masashi was the type of person who _glorified_ in his dark nature and made no apologies as to what he was. He was a man who took great delight in the fact that he _**couldn't**_ be redeemed, and thus he made no excuses or justifications for any of his vile acts.

In a sick way, one could almost _admire_ the fact that he was so honest about his depravity. Most criminals would seek to shift the blame of their various sins on anything and everything else _but_ themselves.

But not _Masashi_.

**Nope**. Words of blame will _never_ come out of Masashi's lips.

He was simply _wicked_. And he truly _enjoyed_ being so.

The world simply had to _deal_ with it.

_Just like __**another**__ evil person __**Zero**__ knows._

The silver eyes of this old serpent ensnared the amethyst orbs of it's beautiful prey. Lips twisting into a mockingly gentle smile, Masashi said, "You know, _my love_, if you only relaxed," His dark voice was as smooth as oil. "Then our activities would give you _pleasure_, my dear silver night."

Zero blackly glared at him. He **would not speak** to this proud villain. Notwithstanding the humiliating pain, he wouldn't _give_ this evil bastard the satisfaction of hearing his wounded voice.

But instead of getting _angry_ at his rebelliousness, the noble vampire man let out a light _chuckle_. The sound was something a _father_ would make...

...And then he brutally plunged his massive cock further _inside_ him.

Zero could no longer dissociate himself.

The pain of _this_ thrust made him see...**_red!_**

But...at least..._at the very least_...and it had taken _much_ practice... Zero **held in** his painful scream.

But he wasn't quite sure if he would be able to do it again.

Masashi was _very_ well-endowed - almost as big as a _freaking horse_ – to Zero's dismay. It was one of the many reason why Zero experienced _so much_ internal damage whenever Masashi entered him against his will.

Masashi smiled warmly at him. "You sing for Kenichi _only_, my love?" He asked in a wounded sort of tone. "No wonder he refers to you as his wonderful nightingale. _So loyal_."

Zero continued on with his resolve of silence.

Masashi was completely on top of him now – his silver-gold eyes greedily drinking in Zero's obvious agony. He knew his facial expression revealed how he _truly_ felt. Still, Zero would not allow his voice to augment it. Zero realized that his potential moans of hurt or cries of pain would only _add_ to this night beast's pleasure. Therefore, he **will not** give the villain the satisfaction of having the _soundtrack_ of his humiliation.

Nevertheless, his _breathing_ was getting..._haggard_ ...and his trembling body was drenched in hot sweet. Masashi had been at this for a while, and Zero's newest tortuous night seemed to be stretching on longer and _longer_ because of it.

Yet, Masashi continued on with his one-side conversation. "He has asked me if he could try you again, you know."

And it was at _this_ that Zero's attention on Masashi became extremely _focused_.

**Kenichi? **

Kenichi _still_ wanted to fuck him?

A dark fear _exploded_ inside Zero's wailing heart.

If Masashi was Zero's _Head Warden_, then Kenichi Daisuki was his Chief Torturer.

Between the two, objectively speaking, Kenichi caused him the _most_ physical pain. There wasn't a part of his body that hadn't felt his _rotten_ touch. Whenever he appeared, Zero's very skin seemed to close back into itself, and even his hatefully burning blood felt frozen. With Kenichi, Zero could _never_ hold back the screams of his pain no matter how much he tried. _And he rarely tried._

Kenichi was _obsessed_ with finally **breaking him**. He was fixated on solving the great mystery of how to fracture his soul. Thus, he used everything and anything in order to _**break...Zero...down.**_

However, the **one** thing Kenichi **could not do** was _fuck_ _him_.

That was the _only_ thing he could not do. _That_ was saved for Masashi.

But that didn't mean that Kenichi didn't _want_ to.

For some reason, the disfigured man had gotten it into his head that if he were to finally have him in _that_ way – Zero would finally break. And when it came time for _Kenichi's_ _turn_, Zero would be _saturated_ with his thirsting lust. The aching covetousness contained in his bloody touches _chilled_ Zero in places he couldn't describe. And he didn't know what to think the end result would be if Masashi decided to agree to his requests. Kenichi's lust for him seemed to be growing more _violent_ every day.

In fact, Kenichi's life-threatening lust was definitely invigorating Zero's torture sessions with him with an unholy sort of fuel. There were many times that Zero _knew_ the man was barely holding himself 'in check' with him. He came too close – _**too**_ _**very close**_ – to losing all sense of control. And Zero _feared_ that 'too close' would not exist in his near future.

And wasn't this the sixth time Kenichi had requested this?

He didn't want to know the answer, so Zero mentally _distanced_ himself again.

Distance. _Distance_. **Distance**.

But thank the heavens for Toga! Had his beloved teacher-father not trained him in the ways of _torture survival_, Zero knew that he would have been broken in a manner of _hours_ – much less lasted for these two hellish months.

Toga may be a lot of things, but he _knew_ vampires. He _knew_ **them**. And, as a teacher, he wanted to 'cover all the bases' and whatnot with his student. So, against Cross's interference ("_You don't need to poison Zero against vampires __**further**__, Toga!_" Kaien had once disapproved), Toga sat Zero down one day and explained all the necessary rules one needed to know in order to survive such things.

At the time, Zero, as usual, soaked up the information like the genius he was, but even during that long-ago lesson, Zero had secretly believed that he would sooner be _killed_, then allow an evil vampire to take him alive.

_Now_, Zero was _extremely_ grateful that he had _at least_ paid some attention.

_Another_ fluky reason why Zero survived so long.

However, it seems that the more Zero 'held on' because of those lessons, the more zealous the scar-faced man noble wanted to break him.

Shattered him. _Fracture him_. **Crack him. **

_**Sigh. **_

Nowadays, that seemed to be Kenichi's only goal in life.

**He. Would. Not. **_**Break**_**. **

He'll _never_ allow him – **them** - _that_ satisfaction.

Perseverance (or was it really _stubbornness_?) – thy name is Zero Kiryu.

But despite the frequent and pure physical agony that Kenichi routinely inflicted on him, and while Zero truly feared and detested the scar-faced man – for some strange reason...Zero could not fully hate him.

Well, not as _much_ as the two _subjects_ who had his hate in abundance. Still, in the face of his obvious suffering at the man's hands, there was _something_ about Kenichi that Zero... felt sorry for. Sorta like how one pitied a rabid dog. Even though the dog was insane and would bite you the second you touched it – there would always be a sense of..._sadness_... in you when you finally had to put it down.

So no, Zero didn't truly hate _hate_ Kenichi. His _pure_ hatred was just reversed for two people.

One which was currently inside him...and the other that betrayed him to this hellish situation in the first place.

To which all Zero could wonder was...why?

_Why? _

Not even _Ichiru_ hurt him as **badly** as that..._monster_...had.

Nevertheless, Masashi's silver-gold eyes started to radiate with glee at Zero's obvious fear at the _possibility_ that Kenichi could have him like he did. He ruefully smiled at Zero. "But again, my love, I told him that _this_ was _only for me_." He said with a flourish. "You should be grateful, my lovely silver night. Show me how grateful you are by..._singing_."

And then Masashi intensified his cock's sharp thrust within him.

**PAIN. **

_PAIN_. **PAIN**. _PAIN_.

_**BY DARKNESS - **__**THE PAIN**__**. **_

It took _everything_ within Zero to stop his begging scream.

_Stop._

_ Please, please stop.  
_

_I'll do anything so please stop._

But he couldn't even **move** in this tormenting position, and he didn't want to beg so he needed_ to go..._

Distance. _Distance_. **Distance**.

Distance. _Distance_. **Distance** – **NOW.**

Two types of restraints were currently being used on him to prevent him for doing useful things like _free _movement. These restraints helped to intensify his feelings of helpless and to keep him in place. The first type of restraints were his _general_ ones. The ones that only Kenichi could use in order to connect him to his various torture equipment. However, the second type of restraint were the ones that Masashi used in order to hold him in whatever position he wanted to _rape_ him in.

Which, technically, was what Masashi was currently _doing_.

_Ah, rape. _A la _Basic Torturing 101._

For a moment, Zero paused his dissociated thoughts and came back to reality. Honestly, Zero felt that perhaps instead of _breaking_...he would go _crazy_ instead. After all, he was beginning to take his situation far too..._lightly_.

And Toga warned about that. Yes, he did. His father did warn him.

Too many victims of torture lost their minds _**that**_ way. And Zero didn't want to lose that way.

He was rather died complete, then live as a _half-person._

But, in truth, Zero had been... _raped..._ so many times by the criminal nobleman that it was beginning to feel..._normal_. A sort of _twisted_ new normal. But, apparently, Masashi seemed to like to 'spice things up with variety'. Thus, Zero had been... _raped_...by him in so _many_ ways that he could hardly remember _half_ of them.

Which was probably a good thing, really.

**IT ALWAYS HURT.**

Like..._now_.

**PAIN. HURT. AGONY. **

These three words were becoming his dear friends.

Zero's fingernails dung deeply into his bleeding palms. _I will not scream_. Zero thought himself. _I will not beg. I will not be broken..._

Conversely, Zero was on a round wooden table that had numerous looping chains on it. It made Zero feel like he was on a _platter_ - like he was a main dish. His arms, hands, and head were firmly locked onto it, but from the hips down, he was unbound.

One of Masashi's large hands was tightly holding onto the left side of Zero's _aching_ hip, while the other hand was securely clung to his open _trembling_ right thigh. He legs were spread wide-open – like welcoming signs...

Zero took in another shaking breath...he just wanted this all to stop...

But his lower back continued to _viciously_ ache...

He was getting very, _very_ exhausted of this...

And a small part of him wished he was **dead...**

But Masashi continued on with his violent thrusts.

IN. PAIN.

Out. PAIN.

_Please, Masashi. Please stop. _

In. **HURT**.

Out. **HURT.**

**Zero really wanted it to stop.**

However, no words came out of his parched lips.

_I can't..._Zero start to think. _I can't...take...this..much longer._

Toga...

_**Yuki...**_

_Please...help...me._

**Please.**

Yet through the sawing pain, Zero _continued_ to dissociate himself - his tender malehood limply dangled to the side of his waist. Zero couldn't _summon_ the energy to be embarrassed that his 'private areas' were exposed.

_Still_, that was probably _other_ reason why Zero was able to 'handle' all this abuse.

Toga told him that while it is not a widely known fact - simply because a man's staff was _erect_ didn't mean he was _equally_ _**aroused**_. It was something that pop culture would _mock_, but it was true.

Toga also warned him that despite the negative stimulates, any man could potentially become erect during a torture session. And if he _did_ become erect - his torturer would use it against him by trying to make him believe that he _secretly_ _**wanted**_ it. The countless young soldiers who had been broken because of that deception were innumerable. The shame and guilt birthed within them because they _believed_ the terrible lie ended up destroyed them - even if they lived.

A dark silence engulfed Zero as he reflected more on it.

But in spite of everything, _that_ was a problem that Zero, _thankfully_, didn't have to deal with. Not once during this new hellish life had Zero experienced any sort of... _stimulation..._that lead to _that_ sort of humiliation. And in a _dark_ way, he could at least be pleased with that.

This entire period will be remembered as nothing more than pain, _pain_, and more **pain**. Therefore, once he _escaped,_ it would be far easier for him to put his life back on track and heal from this. While this was probably the greatest challenge he had ever faced in his life, Zero refused to allow this dark period to _destroy_ _**him**_.

**_He had too much to look forward to._**

And, without any warning, Zero _finally_ came back to himself.

_He finally came back._

And because he _did_, his three goals roared through his soul like a battle cry. Like a wave of new strength, Zero forced himself away from his brink. These war cries help to cheer him on, and Zero was finally able to stabilize himself.

**Survive. **

**Do Not Be Broken. **

**Escape. **

Those were his goals.

Zero _still_ had those main three goals to achieve – so he needed to get to them. He was going to _achieve_ them no matter what happened because..

Because...

Because **Yuki** – his wife and true-love mate – desperately **needed** him. Something was _wrong_ with her. Through their unique connection, he could feel it. She really _needed_ him now and he -

_Nevertheless_, **Masashi** _didn't_ seem to care at all about Zero's attitude change. Breathing heavily, Masashi bent down closer to him...and Zero felt as if he was _ripped in two!_

For the longest of moment, all he saw was _**darkness!**_

_**BY DARKNESS - **__**THE PAIN!**_

And all he could hear was. "So deliciously _tight_, my dream. _So wonderfully tight_. You're perfect this way."

Somehow, Zero's exploding inner hatred lightly dimmed _**the blinding pain.**_

Distance. _Distance_. **Distance**.

Soon, Zero was _very_ far from himself.

Everything... seemed... so..._distant..._.now.

His abstract thinking was resumed.

Like the _pureblood_ _monster_ who had spitefully betrayed him, Zero instinctively understood that there was _something_ within Masashi that was the greater threat to him. And not just to his body, but to his very **soul**. There was _something_ about Masashi that told Zero that he was the far greater danger then Kenichi ever could. After all, for a vile man like_ Kenichi_ to be under him – that was a pretty telling clue.

Which brought Zero back to the importance of guarding his mind. Masashi didn't rape him without purpose, you know. There was a sinister reason behind the continuous assaults. While he wasn't completely sure of his thoughts on the matter, Zero did know that a dark purpose was contained in Masashi's dangerous questioning.

"_**What do you hate the most, my dear?"**_

"_**What do you fear the most, my darling?"**_

"_**What do you love the most, my love?"**_

He would ask these same three questions to Zero _over_ and _over_ again. Each of those three questions had a sinister aim – to allow Masashi into his mind so that he could learn all of his hidden secrets and thus use those secrets to finally break him.

Masashi and Kenichi, at the end of the day, had the same goal, after all. They just used different methods.

And in the beginning of his dark capture, Masashi had successfully invaded his inner thoughts...with _**horrifying**_ results.

At the first question ("What do you hate the most, my dear?"), Zero's mind had _immediately_ summoned up _Kuran's image_...and the events of his latest betrayal.

_**Memory Flash!**_

_Zero's white wedding suit was torn and bloody. It was barely hanging onto his ragged and wounded body. Zero had broken his right hand, and his left arm and leg was throbbing. His right eye had been pierced, and blood was obscuring his vision. He was dizzy with massive amounts of blood loss and his hands were drenched with blood, sweat, and spit._

_Kaname Kuran just stood there at his apartment door and silently watched as Zero fought desperately for his life._

_Zero was incredulous._

_No. It wasn't possible. Kuran couldn't...__**Kuran wouldn't**__...Kaname just wasn't like that..._

_Zero tried to walk towards him. __It wasn't possible.__ Zero still couldn't believe what his mind and soul were telling him._

_Zero reached toward him with a bloody hand. "__**Help me, Kaname**__."_

_Yet, Kuran took a revolted step back. "__**And allow you to have my happiness? Never**__." He cruelly said. _

_**End Flash!**_

The _**mockery**_ that Zero had to endure from Masashi and Kenichi once they learnt of it... just _added_ to the burning bitterness that Zero had already felt.

"_What a funny dream you are!"_ His rapist and his torturer had laughed. _"You were stupid enough to __**trust**__ and __**care**__ for a pureblood? What else have you done, my lovely silver night?" He then grinned. "__**What do you fear the most, my darling**__?" _

Still, despite Zero's confused rage and fresh horror – he would **not** reveal his greatest fear to this new enemy. _Somehow, _Zero was able to find the strength within him to push Masashi _out_ of his mind and lock him out.

And as a bonus, it had ended the laughter.

Masashi had been _quite_ enraged that he couldn't get into his mind as easily as the first time, however. The criminal nobleman battered his mental defenses like a Siege General for weeks. But, after a month or so, he simply...stopped.

"_Just adds more to your charm."_ Was all he said.

But he happily continued on with his brand of sick torture...

_Until now. _

Zero _**strengthen**_ his mental wall the second he felt something... _slither_... near the fortification of his mental defense.

The evil beast was trying to get in.

Only hell knew why.

There was a chillingly tense moment between them as he evaluate Zero's only defenses.

And soon, Masashi's power...slithered away.

Zero shuddered. _That was too close_.

The first time was one too many.

But in spite of his only success at defending himself, Zero could still remember the mocking outsider's words.

_You were stupid enough to trust and care for a pureblood? _

The cruelly asked question haunted Zero ever since.

At every waking moment, at every lonely hour, and even during his most painful ordeals – that mocking question came back to _hurt_ him Zero had reflected on it – considered, pondered, contemplated, and ruminated. Everything that one could think of about that question - he thought about it. And then he thought about it twice more for good measure.

But the answer was the same...each and every time.

**Was he stupid enough to trust and care for a pureblood? **

And as much as Zero knew it was ironic as hell...he could honestly say...Yeah.

_Yes, he was._

He was _still_ stupid enough to trust and care for _a_ pureblood, if not _**that**_ pureblood.

Zero could never be ashamed to say that he still trusted and cared for _Pureblood_ Yuki Cross.

And she would be the _only_ one he would ever trust...

...Because the _next_ _time_ Zero saw her treacherous fiend of brother...there won't even be ashes left of him.

But now...his current tormentor was nearly the end of his 'shift'.

Masashi started to rapidly pant into his ears. Zero smelled old human blood on his breath. He nearly gagged. "I will make you mine." He said – his thick body trembling. " _One day, you will be mine_." He whispered. " I will discover the key to your mind and soul, my dream. And you _will_ cry out in utter rapture with me when that day comes." He darkly guaranteed with wobbly hands. This was the sign. Zero knew the man would come to his release any minute now. "And _that_ is when I know you will be _my_ _**perfect corruption**_."

Zero decided to look at him then. _Really look at him._ His pure amethyst eyes were _serious. _ There was a cool resolve in his consuming orbs, and it was quite _shocking_ in its intensity. Even if he wouldn't speak, Zero's amethyst eyes told of his true intentions - loud and clear.

_**Never. I will survive. I will not be broken. And I will escape from you one day. **_

Thus says the Last Son of the Kiryu Hunter Clan.

Masashi's silver-gold eyes darkly flashed for a long moment as he returned the heated look. However, his dark look was quickly gone. In its place, there was a look of pure amusement. "One day, my dream, you will personify _prey who wishes to be devoured._" Masashi's narrow silver-gold eyes forebodingly promised. "_One day. And soon_."

And then he released.

A long silence descended between them within the cold cave room after the moment.

Ever so slowly, Masashi withdrew his soften cock out of him. Zero allowed himself to wince at the souring pain. In one full moment, he felt all the savage internal damage that had been inflicted on him...again. He could feel the trapped bloody-white fluid slowly leak out of his ass and his rapist's spilled seed poured leisurely down onto the cold cave floor underneath his binding table.

Immediately, Zero felt a horrendous sense of shame. But then he tried to bury the terrible emotions.

_I will make him pay._ Zero promised silently to himself. _I will make both of them pay __**dearly**__ for this._ This disgrace and dishonor...will _not_ be forgiven.

Nevertheless, Masashi started to brazenly clean himself off. "You know, despite the _unneeded_ damage, you are the _first_ man to be able to fully take me in, my dear." Masashi lightly teased. "One could almost say you were born for this."

_**Born...for...this...**_

Zero's raised his fangs and _snarled_ at the indignity. It was a very..._vampire-like_...expression. The _spike_ of sincere hatred Zero felt at the insinuate nearly broke his silent resolve. It was only his unusual tenacity that allowed him to hold back his cursing tongue.

Masashi frowned at his failure at breaking Zero's silent resolve."You will _still_ say nothing at this time? What a pity." For a long moment, he expressionlessly considered him. "Good things come to those who wait, I suppose, and I've _always_ been patience."

Zero just glared at him.

Masashi just darkly smiled back.

"But honestly, my dear silent nightingale, you should learn to _relax_ when we spend this glorious time together." His gleeful rapist walked over to him. "After all, instead of pain, you would have _untold pleasure_ in this new life." He said. "And isn't that what you _truly_ want, Zero?"

Zero's eyes widen at the use of his first name. Then his eyes darken with the type of hatred one _killed_ with. He made a move as if he wanted to leap up and chock the very life out of the man – but the restricted kept him down.

_**NEVER**_. Zero snarled with his eyes. He would _never_ learn to enjoy this.

Masashi simply raised a thick disbelieving eyebrow.

"So terribly stubborn you are, my Zero." He smiled again. "_So terribly stubborn_."

After Masashi had finished buttoning his silk shirt, he decided to resume their one side conversation. "One has to wonder what Kenichi is _doing_ with you!" The he smiled with his white fangs. "Perhaps I should bring in..._someone new_?" He wondered out loud "Someone even worst that we?" There was a _promising_ look within his eyes. "Would you like that, my dream?"

As if Zero had a choice in the matter. The captured ex-human simply stared back at him.

A new torturer? Something inside Zero violently shuddered with the thought.

Clap. Clap.

Masashi loudly clapped his strong hands together and _immediately_ a new door opened.

"Are you finally done, Masashi-san?" A scar-faced man tamely asked.

"Oh, indeed I am, my boy." Masashi gestured. "He's all _yours_."

The scar-faced Kenichi smiled suavely at him.

Zero's already wounded body withdrew within himself – his soul squeezed with foreboding as his heart burned.

_By the Sun's Pure Light_...

Another torture was about to begin...

_**Again**_.

However, before Masashi's departure, he decided to leave a forewarning. "But don't damage my dream too greatly tonight, Kenichi-chan." His frosty eyes evilly glowed. "Tomorrow night, I have a _special_ guest coming by to..._see_ him and he needs to be at..._his_ _best_."

And with those last wickedly foreboding words, Zero Kiryu was dropped into another type of Hell.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**A/N:** And so the plot marches on! :_: Still, this chapter is more of a 'day in a life' feel to me with...basic set-up... for...future key events. X_X This is simply the beginning of this _highly_ desired mini-arc, so it's necessary to show where Zero's head was at and what he was doing in order to get beyond this point...before it all goes downhill. (Sobs)

Here's my thinking on this - Zero is an _extremely_ strong character. Few characters in VK are as mentally tough as he is (except, perhaps...Kain? XD), so I don't think just 'torture' is something that would _really_ cause him to truly break up his soul/mind. -_-' And I think a 'real' vampire-hunting organization would train their people to withstand torture techniques like our elite military factions - so there's that to consider as well. ;_;

Plus, FYI – I'm not going to do a day by day account of Zero's months of captured torture – I'm sure, if you want to, you guys can imagine that stuff from the massive amount of information I've supplied. O_o. Nevertheless, this mini-arc will just cover the 'ending of Zero' during this time period.

However, this is just the beginning! And it _will_ get sadder (and twisty! ;D) from here on - _both_ in the past and present storylines. XD (Ho ho! Foreshadowing _connections_ notwithstanding ;D!)

**Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or long – I love them all! :) **


	91. Chapter 90 Lose

**Silver Night **

**By: A Really Big Idiot **

* * *

**100 Years Ago **

Even though their special guest would be arriving soon, Kenichi looked at his boss and said. "The hunter is still not broken, sir." The scar-face man hissed. "Do you even think _this_ will work? _Or_ benefit us in any way?"

Masashi's silver-gold eyes flashed, and his lips twisted. "I do not know, _Kenichi-chan_." He hissed. "_I just don't know that_." He ran a frustrated hand through his thick gray scalp. "The boy has been here for _two_ months, and he has **not** been broken yet." He lightly patted his ornamental cane on this office table. "I can see him cracking, but he somehow is able to glue himself back together the next night. This is not good. Not good at all." He heavily sighed. "Perhaps we are going about this the _wrong_ way?"

Kenichi was silent. Even though Masashi _had_ asked a question – the man never truly wanted an answer that was from him.

"He is not just a _normal_ human." Masashi's eyes deeply reflected as he thought more about it. "He is a _hunter_ and not just any hunter - a vampire hunter of the powerful Kiryu Line." And Masashi Sukakasi had a special history with the Kiryu Family Line.

Oh, how _special_ his history with them had been.

This _Zero Kiryu_ was the last grandson of that vile vampire hunter - Tai Kiryu - also known as "The Human Without Blood." He and his partner-in-arms, Kaien Cross (aka "The Vampire Without Fangs" ) had been the most dastard duo of his foes in his earlier years. If he did not have the devil's own luck, he would have surely died by their merciless hands on a number of occasions.

So, _this_ situation that he had suddenly found himself in was the most _ironic_ thing he had ever experienced. To finally have a descendent of one of his own old enemies under his control...well, you can _**imagine**_ his joy!

Truly, Lady Fate was such a _fickle_ woman.

Masashi's large fangs glowed as his temporary office was filled with the beautiful colors of yellow and orange sunset light. "Vampires hunters are protectors of humanity, but, of course, there is always the risk of being caught and trapped by _enemies_. Hunters probably train their own in order to overcome our various torture techniques. It is the _only_ explanation for his unusual resistance." The criminal nobleman thought out loud. "A _normal_ human would have broken down by now due to our mix of crushing pain and utter humiliation." He darkly frowned. " We _need_ to try something new. _Something __**very**__ new, indeed_."

Kenichi nodded his head in agreement but said nothing.

As they waited for their..._special guest,_ both men became lost in their own thoughts as a companionable silence descended between them_._

Nevertheless, there was far more to Masashi's desire at breaking the last living descendent of the House of Kiryu then simple revenge. Oh no, just having revenge wasn't truly what he wanted. This situation had become something that he never thought possible and his soul was thrilled because of it.

The boy was nothing like his grandfather. And not at all like the typical Kiryu Hunter. Masashi was sure that if their positions were reserved that even the boy's grandfather would have broken down by now due to his pride and ego. But the child still remained strong and defiant, and with everything that Masashi had forced him to suffer – even he had to admit that he was extremely impressed.

And with that impression, he wanted to see and experience _other things_ out of the boy.

First, Masashi desired to see such a beautiful and strong-willed creature...cry.

_I want to see him cry in grief._ Masashi thought to himself. _I want to see him mourn with hopelessness._

Regardless of what he and his servant had done to him, Masashi could see that the boy had an inner resolve that seemed to strengthen him day by day. And while his handsome face was utterly radiant when it wore the expressions of hate and fear, Masashi desperately wanted to see the boy's _sadness_. A true dying desolation of his soul. He knew it would be a thing of perfect beauty if he were able to behold it, and it was one of the few things Masashi had yet to see in this world.

With all the pain and suffering the silver-haired hunter had been subjected to, Masashi had never once seen the beautiful man cry. _Never_. While his tears would sometimes flow because of pain, the handsome hunter had never once shed _willing_ tear of sadness, and _those_ were the tears Masashi genuinely desired to see.

The Vampire Hunter House of Kiryu was a notorious symbol of light to the vampire world. Generation after generation of their hunters had been a thick thorn in the night people's side. The Kiryu Hunters were viciously hated for their total ruthlessness. They destroyed and slaughtered their people like they were nothing more than pesky termites! And their creed had been universally known and greatly feared.

_We of the House of Kiryu have only one adage and one charge: __**Destroy all Evil.**_

But, amazingly, one soul – _one young boy_ - from that accursed line learned to _love_ one of their darkest inheritors. The Nightfall World had stopped on its axis when they heard of it!

A _Kiryu Hunter_ was to wed a _Pureblood Kuran_? Their world rocked!

And finally, after all this time, one of Masashi's long pondered question was answered.

_**Could light love darkness?**_

It was a question that had filled his days as he pondered it, and despite all the time he had spent on it, he had never really got an answer he liked.

All vampires knew – at least on a subconscious level – that darkness loved and desired light. It was the public secret of their race. Light was something that sustained them, that gave them something _new_ to look forward to, and that gave the night world a _reason_ for continuing on.

Thus, darkness always desired light. Even it if burned, even if it hurt, and even if it killed – darkness loved and need the light.

But the _reversed_ question had never been asked.

Was the _light_ the same way?

Technically, light didn't need darkness. _It didn't_. Light _– true light_ – could _**sustain**_ itself.

But could light not love darkness back? If only for a little?

With the news of such a outrageous marriage between the most unlikely of individuals, Masashi finally got the answer to one of _his_ most important life questions.

Yes, indeed. _Light could love darkness back._

But when _that_ question was answered – a new question and various wishes took it place. And _perhaps_...his soon-coming visitor would give him the insight he needed to answer his _newest_ question. A brand-new question that led to this secret dream of his.

And this dream – _Masashi's last dream_ - would be realized at _any_ cost.

Knock. Knock.

Masashi was ripped from his dark thoughts at the expected sound, and he took in a long deep breath to steady himself and hide his excitement for his future.

_This_ man's visit would surely help him achieve his innovative aims.

Masashi brightly smiled. "Ah, come in, come in!" He greeted warmly towards his most _unusual_ guest. "I've been expecting you!" He said with a mysterious smile. "But let me ask you a quick question!" He extended out his large hand. "Do you think light could love darkness so much that it becomes a new darkness?"

* * *

**Chapter Ninety: Lose **

* * *

**Present **

Above the dark western seas, a silver Military Zeppelin hovered in the dark light of a pale moon.

Hundreds upon hundreds of elite vampire military personnel hummed around the aircraft like busy bees in a massive hive. Co-Commander of the Vampire Forces, Lord Akatsuki Kain was on the ground and was targeting and tagging every possible escape path. Thus, countless of boats, planes, and helicopters were searching every nook and crease between the Southern and Western Japanese seas and the mainland country of Korea per his instructions and insight. Every seaport and airport located between these two points were being flooded with vampire watchers. And every possible eye that could be used were employed and put to work to find the 'three special prizes'.

The King's Right Arm, Lord Takuma Ichijo, and the King's Left Arm, Lord Hanabusa Aido, were conducting the search above like mad conductors of a dark symphony. While the two rarely saw things the same way, when it was time to do something important – nothing could surpass their teamwork.

But in the center of all sat one person. One person that had the power, if he desired, to destroy every single thing around him and thus stop the structured madness. Therefore, it was a good thing indeed that everything around him answered to him and him alone.

As the swift search for the royal children continued, The Far Eastern Vampire King forbiddingly stared at his electronic observational screen from his seat of power.

But his mind was in _two_ different spheres.

In one way, his mind was totally focused on the desperate search effort. He needed to find his beloved ones _now,_ and he would spare no expense to do so. He would break every possible rule, and thus he would allow _nothing_ to get in his way!

_**Kaname was going to find them.**_

_If it was the __**last**__ thing he ever did._

And since there was so much at stake if Kaname didn't find them, in addition to the hundreds of military personnel, King Kuran summoned a thousand of his bat familiars to aid in his search for his three love ones. Like Yuki and her raven familiars, he used them to track and tag any object that had the slightest trait of vampire activity or aura to it. And because of his current location, his unusual aerial familiars wouldn't cause a questionable stir among the human population. The current darkness and open emptiness of the seas allowed him to use them without constraint. After all, his bats could get into places and see things that his vampire soldiers may not be able to see, and thus Kaname forced himself to his limits.

Nevertheless, even as his mind hellishly focused on the search of his missing love ones, another part of himself was attentive on his intimate mental depths.

After executing that wretched traitor, Joon Ho Song, Kaname had felt a calmness reclaim him. The bloodshed had awakened him from his dazed dream-like inner pain, and he was brought back to himself. Yuki's words had wounded him so deeply that if he hadn't been able to release the awful tension in his soul caused by her actions, he felt that he would have truly _lost_ his mind.

_Still_, the realization that she would do it all over again...

That she would choose the blasted hunter over him...

By Darkness, there were simply no words to describe what he felt.

And so...he locked those dark emotions into a mental chest and threw that chest somewhat deep into the endless sea of mind. After he _found_ his other love ones, there would be time to ponder what she had done to him, and what he could do back to her to avenge his extreme suffering.

But that didn't mean _other_ dark thoughts didn't creep into his mind and demanded that he pay attention to them.

And the _first_ questions that weighed the heaviest in his thoughts were...

_What exactly have I been doing?_ The Kuran King thought blackly to himself. _What exactly have I been working so __**hard**__ for? _

Honestly, if the situation wasn't so direr, Kaname had the feeling that he would be _laughing_ like a madman right now. If _this_ crisis was happening to someone else – someone less deserving – then the pureblood would have simply told that person to deal with it and _suck it up_. After all, life is not a simple ride. One cannot expect to go through it on billowy clouds of ease and expect nothing bad to happen to them. _And_ if one was a ruler – a leader and shaper of world events – one should _expect_ that things such as this would happen.

Yet what was happening wasn't to some _other_ person - but _directly_ to him.

Kaname felt like _burning_ this entire cruel world into gray ashes.

Nothing – _**absolutely nothing**_ – goes how he wanted it to go. Sometimes, that was a _good_ thing, but most of the time it was not. His life – even in the ancient beginning of it – had never been easy or simple. No, his life was so problematic, lonely, and lost that one would think such a creature like him was too _pitiful_ to exist. In fact, if it was any other creature, a pitiful poor thing such as himself, Kaname believed that he would have strangled the thing it its mother's womb out of mercy.

Because no one – _**not one damn person on this dying planet**_ – had to walk his blood-spattered and desolated path.

Kaname's life had _always_ been a battle - a war that must be constantly fought for and defended but _never ending_.

Kaname had known this fact all his life, both in his previous and current ones, and unlike most souls, he had embraced, _relished_, and **cherished** such a fact. He had understood that _his_ path in life would always be _different_. He understood that he had to walk this long and bloody road to achieve his dreams. Thus, he did all that he could to win his countless battles, because he believed – _**no, he knew**_ – that at the end of his battles he would _finally_ have what he always wished for.

However, there were times – like now – that he was starting to _question_ it.

Why was it that Kaname was never able to truly rest from his burdens? Why was it that he rarely had any long periods of peace? Why did something always (and _always_ and **always**) come and threatened the very _**little**_ he had?

Just – _**why?**_

It's not like he was an evil person. Selfish? Yes. Cruel? Definitely. However, to think that he was such an unredeemable person that deserved nothing but punishment was getting to be..._disheartening_.

He may be a monster – _and the greatest of them_ – but...

But did not monsters have _needs_ too?

_Didn't they? _

And he wasn't even an average modern monster - he was an _**ancient**_ one.

_Just what exactly I have been doing?_ The pureblood thought sadly to himself. _Did I not gain all this power so that things like __**this**__ would __**not**__ happen?_ He tightened his fists. _Then why are these things happening then? _

Why_? Why? __**Why?**_

Kaname darkly reflected on this question, but there was no coming answer.

_Like always. _

Kaname continued on with his bitter musings.

Out of the four people he loved most in this world – three of them were taken from him in less than a night.

_By Moon's Pale Light!_ Kaname _dearly_ loved his two kidnapped children. They were the children – of the countless ones he had _lost_ – that he was finally able to raise and fully love. He truly loved them – really he did - but between the two only his dear daughter seemed to respond to his love in a way that made him feel..._right_.

Juri loved and trusted in him. She believed in his good nature like no one else ever had. Many times he had stopped himself from committing some minor sin because of her undying faith in his noble intentions. He loved his daughter _so much_ for that. Only _she_ seemed to understand that he needed **someone** who truly and honestly trusted in him despite what the world would advise.

But then there was _Haruka_.

While Kaname _also_ loved his son, Haruka never seemed to love him back or trust in him like a son _should_ in a father. And that understanding always brought..._pain..._to him.

Haruka acted like he – _**Kaname**_ – was just some evil old brute out to make his life a living hell. _Such a stupid child his son was._ The boy consistently disobeyed him and totally ignored everything that Kaname said or pointed out. It was any wonder Kaname was still breathing! Goodness, Haruka's rebellious attitude had forced his blood pressure to rise to extreme levels far too many times, and he was beginning to think the boy _enjoyed_ doing so.

Where did he go wrong with that child?

_Really?_ Where did he go wrong?

Kaname believed – _no, he knew_ - that he'd been _best_ of fathers to him. _The __**very **__**best**__ of __**fathers**__._

Haruka never had to deal with any sort of real pain in his life – and definitely not anything remotely similar to what he had gone through in his previous childhood and adolescence. Kaname protected him from the all dark cruelties of the world. He had provided him with a life filled with so many things that he could never _want_ for anything. And Kaname was currently ensuring that his son's future would be a _bright_ one – where the child would stand mightily beside him and help him achieve his final grand dream.

And with all his tender care and consideration towards him – his own son thought of him as an evil tyrant.

_**Memory Flash!**_ _"You aren't my father!" A small Haruka said with large tears in his dark-brown eyes. "You're nothing more than an evil tyrant! I wish I was someone else's son!"_ _**End Flash!**_

It was wrong, but Kaname had wanted to _murder_ him at that moment. He had even raised his hand to strike the boy dead, but something within him had _stopped_ him.

But from that moment on, Kaname simply embraced the awful perception his son had of him. Clearly, if Haruka saw that all he had done for him was mere tyranny, despite all the evidence to the contrary, perhaps instead of _his care_, **his cruelty** would make his child better?

Perhaps it was Kaname's care that had made his dear son so _inadequate_?

After all, cruelty was what shaped him into what he was today...

...And now he was faultless.

Kaname let out a deep exhaled breath. Honestly, Kaname just didn't know what to make of his relationship with Haruka. It clearly wasn't what he thought it would be when the child was first born, but he knew that if he didn't do _something_ about their relationship, then it would morph into something that Kaname couldn't foresee or like.

Nevertheless, in order to save his fragile relationships with his children, he needed to get them back. After all, even though he couldn't control everything (yet), nothing was impossible for _Kaname Kuran._

Still, there was a _third_ dear person of his that was missing. It was that third person that Kaname still _**couldn't believe was missing**_, and that he needed to get back _**himself**_ before the others realized there was a third victim Kaname was desperately looking for.

Kaname closed his eyes. _Silver..._The pureblood miserably thought. _My precious love...__**how**__ could this have happened to __**you**__ of all my precious persons? _

And _that_ was the _scariest_ thing about this terrible crisis.

_His_ _Silver_ had been **taken** from him - unexpectedly ripped away and nearly lost _forever_ in one single second - despite _**everything**_ he had done to conceal and protect his existence.

By Night, how in the world was _that_ even possible?

Unlike his royal family, Silver Night was his jealously guarded secret. He was a tightly locked away surprise that only one other minor person knew about (Butler Rio). Kaname was so careful as to not allow anyone else to know of him, and the reasons for that was a varied as the pebbles on a sandy beach.

And what was _so terrifying _was to understand that something he _needed_ – something he had, to the best of his skills, carefully hidden and kept away from the malicious outside world - was taken away from him in **one single chance**.

...Isn't that so **funny**? _So rottenly funny? _

When Kaname had found him - still alive after _**all**_ that he had done to him - he had been overwhelmed with authentic shock. After everything, both known and unknown, that he had done to the man - that strange silver-haired soul was alive and functioning.

At first, Kaname didn't want anyone to know of the man's existence because he intended to use his imprisoned state to get back his rebellious wife. Honestly, that was the _only_ real reason why Kaname had brought that man back with him.

But then on _that_ night - the night that he had stepped into _**his**_ _**dream**_ – his original intentions were flung so far out of his mind that even now Kaname was having _difficulty_ remembering his original purposes.

When Kaname ultimately had the nerve to see the results of his _newest_ crime against the man – he had never expected what he experienced. What he had expected was rage, anger, and hatred, and surely those emotions would have been _completely justified_...

But he found none of that.

Instead, what he found _was_...

_**Memory Flash! **_

_"This place is like a dream." He whispered._

_That man before him smiled, and Kaname felt his heart melt. This person looked at him with such kindness and tender care that Kaname was confounded. "But this is reality, my king, and it will be so all the days of your life."_

_Immediately, Kaname felt his conscience awaken. He had __**hurt**__ this person. He had hurt this person in the vilest of ways. He suddenly wanted to explain himself._

_"What had happened that night-" Kaname started to say, but he was interrupted. He watched in shock as man kneeled before him. The movement was so smooth that his long silver hair seemed to float around him. Kaname could only watch as the man reach out towards him, grab Kaname's right hand, and pulled his hand towards his ruby lips._

_The man kissed his hand. A feeling of pleasure raced through his body. "My master, you were upset. You couldn't have stopped what had happened. __**I understand**__." The beguiling creature said to him as he continued to kiss his hand._

_Kaname fell upon his knees. "How can you understand? How can you accept?" _

_That was impossible! Had it been him - he would have __**never**__ -_

_"You are my master. I will accept and understand every aspect that is you. Everything you are - I will accept and understand because the sole purpose of my existence is to create and encourage your total pleasure and true happiness." Kiryu said._

_**No**__, __**not Kiryu.**__ This person could __**never**__ have been Kiryu._

_This person was...__**this person was**__..._

_"I, Silver Night, belong completely to you, my master." Silver Night's eyes suddenly came alive. His gray-purple orbs burned with flames of hot desire and true longing. Kaname mind and body felt engulfed by the flame. "I will always be with you until the end of your days."_

_Kaname looked into Silver's dark amethyst eyes and instantly believed everything he had said._

_**End Flash! **_

Kaname suddenly found it very difficult to breathe.

What he found then – _after searching for it for so very long_ - was acceptance.

**Acceptance.**

There had been no bitter criticism, _no disapproval_, **no condemnation**, and _**no judgment**_.

Just pure simple sweet acceptance of the strange and ancient monster he surely was.

Silver accepted and understood Kaname without fighting it, without denying it, and without complaint.

Silver Night accepted the fact that Kaname Kuran was _pureblood_. Therefore, he would always be changeless.

_I cannot lose him._ Kaname vowed to himself. _He is the one thing that I must never lose. _

But so help him, if Lady Fate was cruel enough to allow _that_ to happen – Kaname will _strangle_ her and _rip out_ her heartless throat.

* * *

_**100 Years Ago...**_

Zero Kiryu was imprisoned within the world of dark dreams.

_**...It's cold...**_

_**And there is so much red water...**_

_**...But what is "red"?**_

_**...And what is this "water"?**_

_**It is something that is dark...**_

_**But...**_

_**Something that is "dark"... is what?"**_

_A gigantic full moon exhaustedly sat in the pitch-black sky. Thousands upon thousands of stars graced the ebony heavens, and the icy midnight winds sought to capture every dying dream. However, no sounds could be heard, and no scents could be smelt. The only physical sensations that could be understood here were sight, taste, and touch. _

_And it was cold – terribly so. But perhaps that was because it was snowing this beautiful full moon night. Each snow drop fell to the earth like soft clouds. They fluffy essences decorating the dark buildings and structures of his small hometown. _

_However, this was __**strange**__ snow. Sometimes, this snow did not feel like snow at all. __**Yes**__. This strange snow was snow but at the same time not snow. __**How strange**__. Sometimes, the snow felt fluffy on his skin – like the snow was giving him a small cool kiss. But at other times it ran like rain done his face like warm water. Nevertheless, __the young silver-haired pre-teen continued to leisurely walked through a small public park with a bag of small candy tightly held in his pale hands. _

_In truth, Zero Kiryu knew he shouldn't be out here. His father would be disappointed, and his mother would be upset, but his younger twin had asked him for it – more like begged him for it - and because his twin brother had so few things he could take comfort in, Zero couldn't find it in his gentle heart to deny his twin such a small request. Even though Ichiru had a bad temper and cold nature, Zero loved his younger brother and just wanted to see him happy. _

_And if candy was something that could make his brother happy, he would get it for him. _

_So, without thinking much about it, the older Kiryu twin slipped outside their shared bedroom window like a ninja and went to a 24-hour mini-mart that was located a few blocks away. _

_Now, he was heading back home. His house was located near the park, and thus he reached his home within seconds. Zero was planning to sneak back through his window to cover his tracks, but, without warning, he smelt something...strange. _

_He didn't know what this strange, new, and wonderful smell was, and so he followed it – wondering what the source of such a delicious aroma was. Immediately, Zero came upon the large black door that led to his home, and the delicious aroma was suddenly gone! _

_And a new scent replaced it. _

_A scent that __**he knew**__ only meant trouble. _

_Without even thinking about it, he opened his front black door and... Zero dropped his bag of candy. _

_**Blood. **_

_There...was...__**blood**__ everywhere in the living room...__**absolutely everywhere**__ ...and Zero's bright amethyst eyes started to shine with understanding..._

_His mother's blood..._

_His father's blood..._

_His brother's blood..._

_Fresh warm bright-red blood was everywhere._

"_Who did this?" Zero started to cry out. "Who on earth did this?" _

_Suddenly, a woman with long silver hair, pink eyes, and a flowery kimono appeared before him. She looked at him sadly. "Who did this, young one? Is that the question you ask?" She softly asked. "Do you even want to know the answer to that question?" _

"_Yes." He said. "Who destroyed my family? Which evil person did this?" He cried._

_But then the silver-haired woman smiled curiously at him. "You did it." She answered. "__**You did it, Zero**__." _

_And in an instant, Zero felt like he was covered in sticky, hot blood. __**Their blood.**_

_Like snow..._

_The silver-haired woman was abruptly gone, and Zero could only stare at himself. _

_**He was covered ...in... blood! **_

_Painting his lips, painting his teeth, painting his hands and his feet – Zero felt like he was drenched in all his love ones' blood..._

_... And he started __**screaming**__._

Zero snapped eyes open.

But at the painful light, he instantly closed them. His heart was racing like a wild track horse, and his lungs heaved as if staved for breath. It took a moment for Zero to center himself and soon his heart collected itself while his lungs blissfully savored the air.

However, now, it felt as if his eyelids had been sewed shut. Thus, the captured hunter struggled to open his disoriented orbs. After a couple of seconds, his vision cleared, and he found himself staring at a wooden ceiling.

_What in the world? _

His heart started to race again as he immediately sat up. And once he steadied himself, Zero realized that he was in a place that he had never been in before.

Where was he? What happened to the cold cave? Why was he in a room?

_Was he safe? _

Zero was utterly flabbergasted as he looked around the wooden room and realized his new situation.

Over there to his right was the sound of fire. It was not a roaring flame, but there was a gentle cracking in a fireplace. There was barely any furniture in the room. Just a small wooden table and chair set to his left, a large mirror to his right, and nothing more other than a large black closed door.

However, what upset Zero the most about his new situation was that he was on a large white bed. And, for the first time in months, he was wearing clothes.

Zero marveled.

_Clothes_.

A feeling of intense happiness filled him as he looked at the covering fabric, but his clothing was not a pair of blue jeans and a simple t-shirt like he usually wore. Zero touched the soft fabric. While it was clean, thick, and cooling, his white yukate seemed one size too big for him. But for a moment, he almost felt like crying. _Clothes_. He was finally wearing clothes! _He really was!_

It was amazing how such a simple thing as clothing made him feel like a person.

For two months, he had been without clothing like he was some wild animal. No, not just like an animal, something even _worse_, because at least animals had their furs and hides. Zero move his hands in order to explore his clothing further, but the sound of his rattling chains broke the silence.

Zero stared at his restraints and, for a second, nearly felt like sobbing.

_Now is not the time._ Zero thought to himself. _Now is __**not**__ the time to cry. Get a hold of yourself, man._

He was not safe.

He was still in captivity.

At the cruel realization, Zero felt something on his pale throat. His chains rang as he touched whatever was on it, and his shaking hands felt... _a collar?_

Zero swiftly climbed out of the bed and went to the large mirror. And there it was. The thing on his neck. It was a silver-gold collar, after all. He examined it more closely. Nothing about the collar seemed unusual, other than the number of zero on it.

Zero darkly frowned. This collar he was wearing...meant something _evil_ didn't it? Something extremely evil and twisted, but for now, Zero would be in the dark as to its intended meaning.

Sighing, he looked over his reflection...and felt like sobbing and laughing at the exact same time.

Except for one minor thing – nothing about his appearance changed. He was the perfect picture of vigorous health, despite all the vicious torturing and rapes he had experienced nearly every day during his capture. Nothing was wrong with him. There were no cuts, no scars, no wounds – not one injury was on him.

Zero felt like smashing this mirror into tiny bits. It confirmed what he had always known. After Masashi would rape and Kenichi would torture, and when he finally lost consciousness, he would wake up the next day completely _healed_. Every night, he would awaken in picture perfect health – and the rape and torture would be continued afresh. Like his freshly healed body was suddenly a brand-new canvas his two tormentors could showcase more of their handiwork on.

That was the cycle of Zero's life now: Pain and Healing. Nothing but pure pain and radical healing.

But today was obviously different. Today, not only was he perfectly healed, but he was _**clean**_ and **_wearing_ **nice clothes. And with this white yukate he was currently wearing...Zero shuddered. He was torn with both the desire to rip his new clothes off of him or tightly grab onto it and never let it go.

By Sword's Oath, he looked similar to how he was on his wedding day. (Except that his silver hair was now reaching his shoulders.)

This..._this_ was some type of new torture technique, wasn't it? Zero was sure that it was! Either that or this was some type of sick (and _cruel_ and _nasty_) joke.

But why?

Why would Masashi or Kenichi give him these strange clothes, put him in a room, and lay him on a soft bed?

What evil purpose does this serve?

_Was this the start of his new tormentor's reign? _Zero thought as his amethyst eyes narrowed with suspicion. _Was that it?_ Was this how his new tormentor decided to start his or hers sick game?

Masashi did say something like that last night. That he would bring in a new one, and that person would be _worse_ than his usual two?

Zero gritted his teeth and pressed his lips into a hard line.

_So be it then._ He vowed to himself. _So be it then. I will not be afraid._

During the past few months, Zero kept to his resolve. He faced every sick and twisted torture that had been thrown at him, and he would handle this new evil game the same way.

Zero renewed his resolve. Nothing could shock or surprise him now. Not one damn thing and if those two bastards thought Zero was going to break down because of this new tormentor – they had another thing coming!

Survive. Do not be broken. Escape.

But in the next second, Zero felt three familiar vampire auras heading towards him.

_Three. _

And..._and_...they _all_ felt..._familiar_.

**Familiar. **

Something about _that_ put Zero on edge.

Of course, he felt Masashi's and Kenichi's evil auras, but this new aura – _this third aura_ – Zero knew.

_**He knew. **_

And that _should not be_ if he was getting a new tormentor...

Something inside Zero **violently** _**tilted**_.

_**HE**_ was coming.

Zero could feel every thrum within himself as his mind tried to understand what his instincts already knew. Every nerve cluster, every hair, even his skin started to itch with the acknowledge of who it was that was actually coming, _coming_, **coming**...

Zero's heart violently shuddered as the door opened.

Kenichi was standing at a respectful distance away and would hardly even _look_ at him. (Which was unnerving in and of itself.)Therefore, it had been Masashi who had been the one that had opened the door. And when he had done so, the criminal noblemen immediately met his stunned eyes and darkly smiled.

"I've brought your old friend." The man's silver-gold eyes burned. "I hope you are _very_ happy to see him."

And before Zero could speak, that third person walked into the room.

Zero felt as if he had been pushed off a very dark and high cliff.

This third person...

This vampire...

This man...

_How dare he show his face before me? _Zero angrily thought to himself - nearly blinded with hateful rage_._

_**HOW DARE THIS MONSTER SHOW HIM HIS FACE?**_

Immediately, the small wooden room was engulfed with the deep and heady scents of old wine and ancient spices.

Kaname Kuran lightly greeted him - his garnet-chocolate eyes were devoid of any emotion. "How have you been, Kiryu?" His velvety voice mildly asked in a darkly amused way. "And how have my friends been treating you, my hunter?"

**To Be Continued.**

* * *

**A/N:** What? :3 (Breaks out into song) Everything you thought is..._**wrong!**_ (Tap dances) Or maybe it not! Or maybe it is! Or perhaps it _could_ be! Or perhaps it _is_ what you originally thought it was! (Cue mad writer's laughter) **Things... just...don't...**_**happen**_**... like you (or I) **_**expect**_** in this fic!** ;3

_Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review! Short or love - I love them all! :D_


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